Courtney's cozy-ees: Parkdale teen turns life challenge into comfort for others

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She could see, between doses of I.V. an-tibiotics used to treat infections related toher cystic fibrosis, that something wasabout to change.

In the lot across from her familiar thirdfloor room, where she’d often stayed sincebeing diagnosed, she could see the newRandall Children’s Hospital being builtfrom the ground up.

At every hospitalization, Courtney sawmore and more progress.

“I could see the hole in the ground whenthey started and then I watched it beingbuilt floor by floor,” said Courtney on Feb.11, as she joined the thousands of other pa-tients and families who came for the hospi-tal’s grand opening.

But this last weekend Courtney was nei-ther a hospital patient nor simple visitor.

Instead, she came bearing a vanload of giftsto share with the many other seriously illchildren who will soon come to Randall aspatients.

What Courtney brought to share wassomething special that she experienced as ayoung patient herself — something that“made a huge impact” when she was afraidand in pain.

Just days before the opening event,Courtney, with the help of family and com-munity, completed her goal of hand-craft-

ing 113 doubled-layered fleece blankets tocover the 113 new beds in the cheerful,child-friendly care facility.

“I had a lot of help from our friends andfamily,” said Courtney, who along with hermother LeAnn, sister Laney and father, Ty,sent out a call for help, via Facebook, inorder to complete the big task before thegrand opening.

“During Christmas break we had 37 peo-

ple come one day and 32 people on the sec-ond day,” said LeAnn, who credited Park-dale Elementary Principal Kim Vogel withproviding the workspace on the gym floor.

On Feb. 11, Courtney visited the newfifth-floor pediatric intensive care unit atRandall, and was happy to see one of hervery own “Courtney’s Cozy-eez” blanketsbrightening the bed in a high-tech patientroom.

“It is so good to see that my blankets are

there,” she said.“Courtney has done a wonderful thing

for patients and families,” said JessicaCummings, child life specialist at Randall-Emmanuel, who has been part of Court-ney’s care team for five years.

“In fact, Courtney was nominated bythree different care providers to receive theCommunity Hero Award because of herwork to help others,” Cummings said.

Courtney will officially receive her honorin May along with a professional portrait togo along with her life’s story.

Truthfully, the story of Courtney’s caringbegan a long time ago.

At one of Courtney’s early hospitaliza-tions a warm, snuggly, hand-made blanketwas waiting on her hospital bed to helpcomfort her through the treatments ahead.She never forgot that gift and still has theblanket, made by Project Linus, to this day.

“I decided to do the same thing for some-one else,” said Cou rtney. “The blanketmakes it seem more like home for kids in-stead of a hospital.”

Prior to this g rand opening goal, Court-ney had already donated about 40 blanketsto Emanuel’s children’s wing; the blanketsare created at home as part of regular fami-ly time.

She and her mother have always selectedfabrics that are cheerful and color-coordi-nated for both boys and girls. Her sisterLaney, who attends Wy’east Middle School,also helps out and shares her sister’s love of bright colors.

So far, Courtney’s family has been buyingthe fleece for her project, with occasionaldonations from friends and communitymembers.

“The saving grace has been the sales at

Joanne’s,” said Ty, a Hood River Countypublic works employee, who estimates thatthey have purchased thousands of dollarsin fleece to ensure Courtney’s dream tohelp others comes true.

In a nice turn of fate where good deedsare sometimes rewarded, Courtney is aboutto receive an answer to another prayer.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation recently of-

 Wednesday, February 15, 2012 B1

Inside: B2, Mid Valley news I B3, Happenings I B4 Medical Directory I B5, Yesteryears I B6, Classifieds

Parkdale teen turnslife challenge into comfort – for others

Story and p

hotos byJULIE RAEFIELD-GOBBO

COURTNEY ERIKSON (top left),pictured while hospitalized in earlyFebruary, proudly displays the 113blankets she completed for dona-tion. Combined with that image is

one of her as a baby with her father,Ty, in a 1996 Hood River News fea-ture. Above center, Child LifeSpecialist Jessica Cummings showsCourtney around Randall’s pediatricintensive care, where her blanketswill be gifts for ill children. At left isCourtney with her mother LeAnn,father, Ty, and sister Laney. Courtneyholds her own first blanket.At right,Courtney covers her bedroom ceil-ing with some of the many mylarballoons she has received duringher many hospitalizations.

henHRVHSjunior Courtney Erikson

was hospitalized two yearsago,likesomanytimesbefore,

 she gazed out of her EmanuelHospital window thinkingaboutthe future.

W 

 Please see COURTNEY, Page B10 

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more importantthan the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do...”

How to helpCourtney has a goal of making about 30

blankets a month. Anyone wishing to helppurchase more fabric and supplies for the

project can send mail or contact her at:Courtney Erikson: 5676 Trout Creek Ridge

Road, Parkdale, OR 97041, or email for moreinformation at

[email protected]

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fered Courtney one wish tobe granted.

Courtney has offered uptwo possibilities to her“wish-granter.” The firstwould be a chance to attendthe NCAA women’s collegeWorld Series softball cham-pionship games in May(Courtney is on the HRV JVsoftball team).

Her other choice would beto have help organizing abenefit concert for the Cys-tic Fibrosis Foundation fea-

turing one of her favoritecountry music stars. CarrieUnderwood, Miranda Lam-bert and Scotty McCrearyare all on her list of possi-bilities.

Make-A-Wish is in theprocess of making one of those dreams come true,and Courtney should behearing within a fewmonths which dream it willbe.

According to LeAnn, inthe meantime, the family is“trying to make Courtney’sblankets a nonprofit organi-zation so we can get somehelp and keep it going.”

The family noted that

neighbors Shelley Parsonsand Steve Reynolds havebeen an especially impor-tant part of that donationsupport.

Even with the success shehas a chieved, however, Cour t-ney still wants to do more.

“I want to still makeabout 30 blankets more permonth to donate now that Imet my big goal,” she said.With blanket materials cost-ing between $30 and $50each, that will involve a lotof fundraising.

“We’ve always taughtCourtney that she doesn’thave to let this disease holdher back. She can do so

many things,” LeAnn said.Even with her daily regi-

men of 15-20 medications,twice-daily breathing treat-ments and regular hospital-izations, Courtney remainsactive in school and sports.

Part of her success comesfrom living by some prettyimportant beliefs — whichcan be found proudly dis-played on her bedroomand/or hospital door:

“The longer I live, themore I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, tome, is more important thanfacts. It is more importantthan the past, than educa-tion, than money, than cir-

cumstances, than failure,than successes, than whatother people think or say ordo. It is more importantthan appearance, giftednessor skill.”

Courtney loves softball,cooking, baking and draw-ing. She thinks that maybeshe might become an artist.Or, she’d like to be a pastrychef or maybe design andcreate wedding cakes for aliving in the future.

With the wisdom,strength, dedication anddrive she has alreadyshown, it appears thatCourtney Erikson might  just do all of the above.

B10 Hood River News, Wednesday, February 15, 2012

COURTNEYContinued from Page B1

COURTNEY and Niko Gjino tour the new RandallChildren’s Hospital in Portland where Courtney’s Cozy-eez blankets grace the newly opened children’s rooms.

Photo by Julie Raefield-Gobbo

What is Cystic Fibrosis?Cystic fibrosis affects the body’s ability to move salt and

water in and out of cells. This problem causes the lungsand pancreas to secrete abnormally thick mucus thatblocks passageways, causing breathing difficulties, lung in-fections and other chronic challenges.

Cystic fibrosis affects approximately 30,000 childrenand young adults in the United States and 70,000 peopleworldwide. There is no cure for CF.Treatment has advancedin the past several decades, increasing both the life spanand the quality of life for most people affected by CF. Withproper management, many people with CF engage in thefull range of school and sports activities.

Friends of the ColumbiaGorge’s 2012 spring hiking

program offers 59 education-al outings for hikers of alllevels.

The hiking season kicksoff March 15, offering a mul-titude of hikes, stewardshipwork parties, tours and onebike ride spread over a four-month season. Offered onweekends and weekdays,these hikes follow the wild-flower blooms from the east-ern end of the Gorge west-ward.

In addition, Friends islaunching a hiking challenge

March 1 titled WaterfallWanderlust. A list of 25 beau-

tiful, semi-obscured water-falls has been compiled tocelebrate that the Gorge ishome to more waterfallsthan anywhere else in NorthAmerica.

Hikers who visit all thewaterfalls receive an entryinto the grand prize drawingof a full-day raft trip for sixon the White Salmon Riverin Washington.

To view the list of water-falls and to register visitwww.gorgefriends.org/waterfalls. Hikers can join Friends

on 12 guided hikes to visitthese waterfalls or head out

on their own.All outings are free and

open to the public; however,some are members-only. Thefull hike schedule and regis-tration can be found onlinea t w w w. g or g ef r ie n ds .org/hikes, starting Feb. 20.

Friends’ basic member-ship is $ 35 annually. One can  join when signing up for ahike, either online or by call-ing the Friends of the Co-lumbia Gorge office at 503-241-3762, ext. 103.

Write and hike! The fourthannual Youth Nature Writ-ing Contest at Lewis andClark National HistoricalPark is open for submis-sions. All 9-12 grade Wash-i n g to n a n d O r e g o n h i g hschool students are eligible.

To enter the contest, write

a 500-word nonfiction storyabout a hiking experience. Itcould be a grand adventurebackpacking trip, a hilariousmuddy romp or a simple mo-ment of reflection, as long asit’s true and related to timespent on the trail.

Cash prizes awarded forthe top three stories, andfourth- and fifth-place finish-ers will receive special waterbottles for hiking. The top 10

will be awarded certificates.Entries are due by midnight,March 31.

The literary judge is Ore-gon Public Broadcast re-porter and blogger Cassan-dra Profita, who is an award-winning reporter with de-grees in journalism and en-

vironmental studies fromthe University of Missouri.She writes and produces con-tent for the Oregon PublicBroadcast blog, “Ecotrope:Fresh ideas on nature andcommunity.”

As the environment andbusiness reporter for TheDaily Astorian, she coveredscience and policy news onclimate change, forestry, en-ergy, fisheries, the Oregon

and southwest Washingtoncoasts and the ColumbiaRiver. Sheis a fellowwiththeInstitutes for Journalismand Natural Resources and arecipient of the Metcalf In-stitute for Marine & Environ-mental Reporting Award of Special Merit.

For contest details, go towww.nps.gov/lewi and clickonto “Youth Nature WritingContest” or Google “YouthNature Writing Contest.”You can also call 503-861-2471,ext. 220.

W in n er s w i ll b e a n -nounced on Earth Day, Sun-day, April 22, on Lewis andClark National HistoricalPark’s Facebook page and itswebsite.

Youth Nature Writing contest starts

Friends of the Gorge 2012 spring hikes