A woman who has spent her entire life in and out of Children's Hospital as a patient, found herself an employee, and then a patient again. Sydney Hanel, 22, is back at work after two brain surgeries.
Sydney's work family is the phlebotomy lab staff at Children's Hospital. It's a place she knows well. You could say she grew up here. After heart surgeries and orthopedic surgeries, even a stroke; this patient became employee.
"Sydney talks to everybody, she treats everybody the same," says Sue Venteicher with Children's, Hanel's coworker. "They all love her because she is very nice and talks to each person individually. All of our patients that come in, she treats like 100 percent like she knows them as a friend, which is very nice."
"She makes everybody laugh," Julie Hanel, Sydney's mom says. "No matter where they go: the cafeteria, the lab, someone is hugging Sydney."
Early June, she underwent two brain surgeries to stop seizures she has been having.
"(Doctors will) go and cut a question mark into the side of my brain, and put wires in to see where all the scar tissue is and what is in there. Then they want me to have two complete full seizures, and then Thursday they'll go in and make me seizure free," Sydney explained.
Watch the video above to learn more about Sydney's days back at work. For more, visit her Go Fund Me page.
