Highlands Hospital emergency room team saves goat's life
The emergency team at Highlands saved a colleague's goat by raising money to avoid going to market at the County Fair.
Sebring, FL — The emergency room (ER) team at HCA Florida Highlands Hospital not only saves human lives – they recently saved a goat’s life as well. McKaylah Mann is a senior at Sebring High School and member of the local Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. FFA students can purchase and raise a livestock animal of their choice to eventually show at the Highlands County Fair, which was recently held February 2-10. Once shown, the animals are auctioned off, typically for slaughter. This year, McKaylah chose to raise a goat, who she named Bourbon. He was purchased in September and has been a daily responsibility. Besides playing hide-n-seek, playing on his see-saw, and enjoying his snuggles while feeding him his favorite snack – strawberries – McKaylah put in a lot of time and labor to manage the finances and take care of him.
As McKaylah grew attached, so did her mom, Tabitha Mann, who is the emergency room manager at HCA Florida Highlands Hospital. “I would bring the videos to work and show the staff just to get a laugh throughout the day,” said Tabitha. While she shared updates and videos of him eating strawberries and learning new tricks, the ER team grew to love him as well.
As the Highlands County Fair drew near, the more saddened McKaylah, Tabitha, and the ER team grew. One nurse, Michael Cooper, asked if there was any way they could save Bourbon and keep him from going to auction. “I would find that very difficult raising something that young to full grown knowing the outcome,” Cooper said. They learned a retainment fee could be placed, but it would cost over $700, and they had only one week to come up with it. The ER team scrambled to raise funds through a “Goat-Fund-Me,” which is a term coined by Barbara Hart, another ER nurse. Donations even came from non-ER members, like Kimberly Goddard, the medical-surgical manager, and Luis Pacheco Guerra, the vice president of operations.
McKaylah Mann and Bourbon placed 2nd at the Highlands County Fair. In the end, they successfully raised enough money to keep Bourbon alive! “My mom has been so involved and I am thankful to have a mother who networked and had great friends in the ER to help me keep him around,” said McKaylah. Barbara had also sweet talked her husband into allowing Bourbon to live with them on their farm afterwards. Bourbon has already made a special appearance outside of the hospital for the Highlands team to meet him, and the ER colleagues plan to visit him on Barbara’s farm in the near future. “I work with an amazing team and it truly shows our mission statement here that we care like family and we are always improving human – and animal – life,” said Tabitha.