She's not your ordinary doctor. She got into trouble as a kid. She had a learning disability and she wasn't so good in school. In fact, she once failed anatomy. That didn't stop her from becoming a pioneer, a woman who changed the face of medicine.
Her name is Dr. Audrey Evans and her inspirational story is coming to life in a children's book by author Heidi Butler, former director of public information at Northampton Community College.
Heidi wrote the book to honor the work Dr. Evans has done. She also wants to use Dr. Evans' story as a way to inspire children to overcome obstacles, have faith, be determined and persistent and not allow setbacks to defeat them.
Dr. Evans was a pediatric oncologist who is credited for making hospitals less frightening for children and co-founded the Ronald McDonald House. In her retirement, she founded St. James School, a faith-based middle school in inner city Philadelphia.
Heidi had never heard of Dr. Evans, until a nighttime moment in a hospital cafeteria 17 years ago.
"Our son, when he was 14, was hospitalized at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and when we would sleep, I would go down to the cafeteria sometimes to grab a bite to eat," says Heidi. "When I went down there I often noticed an older woman in a lab coat seated at a table surrounded by young doctors who were hanging on her every word or laughing uproariously at her story."
Heidi knew she wanted to tell Dr. Evans' story. A little girl who dreamed about becoming a doctor, at a time when women didn't even have a seat at the table in medicine. Writing her story was on Heidi's heart for nearly two decades. She just didn't have time to write it.
Watch the story below to see how and why Heidi's passion for sharing Dr. Evans story came to life...