Before they brought Wanda DeLee’s shattered body to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, few people thought she would pull through.
Not with a broken neck, displaced hip, crushed right heel and damaged femur and shoulder: the toll of a one-car wreck on her way back home from church in McComb.
“Along with God’s healing mercies,” DeLee said, “doctors at UMMC put me back together.”
With a feeling of gratitude sustained throughout the 23 years since the accident, DeLee, treasurer for the International Order of The King’s Daughters and Sons, helped secure $500,000 to endow scholarships in perpetuity for two UMMC schools.
Because of a life saved decades ago, the lives of UMMC students will be made easier for years to come.
IOKDS, working with the UMMC Office of Development and Alumni Engagement, named the first recipients: three students living the organization’s message of compassion and service.
They are Chelsea Miles of Pearl, who’s studying radiologic sciences in the School of Health Related Professions, and fourth-year medical students Deshauntra Green of Fayette and Tyrikus Hayes of Quitman.
“When I found out about the scholarship, it took everything out of me to stop myself from crying,” Hayes said. “It brings me so much joy, and reminds me that the work I’m doing here is seen and appreciated.”
SHRP and the School of Medicine received $10,000 each. The medical school named two deserving honorees, who will split the award, said Dr. Lyssa Weatherly, associate professor of medicine-geriatrics and assistant dean of student affairs in the School of Medicine.
“When choosing recipients who embody the IOKDS principles of faith, hope and service to others, these two students came to the forefront of many minds on the awards committee and among their peers who voted for them,” Weatherly said.
“Tyrikus has been a delight since he first set foot on this campus, leaving everything and everyone in his wake better than how he found them. He serves with a devotion that never wavers, radiates a positivity that lifts every room he enters and embodies the kind of teammate every medical student hopes to have.
“Deshauntra is truly a joy. In a world that rarely slows down, she moves through it with uncommon grace – balancing motherhood, marriage, medical school and service to others with a steadiness that inspires everyone around her. Her ability to give so much, learn so intentionally, and love so fully is nothing short of extraordinary.
“They both move behind the scenes with a humility that masks the depth of their impact. Though they never ask to be recognized, everyone around them sees their goodness, admires their steady strength and looks up to them more than they’ll ever realize.”
The first in his family to go to medical school, Hayes decided at a young age to “do something that allows me to make a difference in the world.”
He has devoted years to community service, served as mentor to college students and led Specialty Services Operations for the Jackson Free Clinic. He has headed several campus organizations, including Black Representation in Medicine. He will use his scholarship for travel expenses as he pursues a psychiatry residency.
Green, a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, has been a mentor and tutor for first- and second-year medical students and a Jackson Free Clinic team leader. She is also destined to become the first physician in her family.
She was drawn to medicine years ago by a TV movie, “Something the Lord Made,” the true story of a doctor and a lab technician who pioneered a heart surgery technique that saved the lives of thousands of “blue babies.”
At first, forensic medicine fascinated her – until she saw a TV show where a “body” in the morgue turned out to be alive, she said. “I had a nightmare that this would happen when I became a physician. So, I went the opposite way.
“I’m applying for a residency in OB-GYN, to bring life into the world.”
Like Green, she will use her scholarship toward residency travel expenses – a windfall for her and her husband as they bring up three small children, including a set of twins.
“It’s always a shock when people choose to give me an award like this,” Green said. “I’m so grateful.”
As is Miles, who received a compelling recommendation from Dr. Kristi Moore, chair and professor of radiologic sciences.
“Chelsea’s dedication and positive attitude make teaching her a joy. She approaches patients and peers alike with empathy and respect, recognizing the human experience behind every image she captures,” Moore wrote to the IOKDS Selection Committee.
“Chelsea’s ability to balance her academic performance, family responsibilities and extensive community involvement is a reflection of her integrity and deep moral character.”
Miles’s character has been tested many times. When she was 12, her mom went into a diabetic coma that took years to overcome. From that point on, a career in health care became her dream.
It has taken a long time to get there: One of five children, Miles had to drop out of college when she required emergency surgery. For years, she worked in real estate, a job that was hard to leave in order to go back to school. “But I felt like this was where I was meant to be,” she said.
A couple of years ago, she was able to enter SHRP full-time, supported by her husband. Together, they are bringing up two children, including their teenage son and a baby girl they adopted in August.
Despite demands on her time from family and studies, Miles has volunteered as an assistant coach with Special Olympics Mississippi, inspired by her sports-minded brother-in-law, who has Down syndrome.
“Chelsea’s journey has been marked by incredible resilience, faith and compassion for others,” said Dr. Jay Garner, dean of SHRP.
“She lifts up everyone around her – classmates and faculty alike. We couldn’t be prouder to see her honored with the IOKDS Scholarship and know she will continue to make a lasting difference wherever she serves.”
Because of another car wreck – her own – Miles chose radiologic sciences: “I fractured my spine, which required numerous X-rays,” she said. “Seeing those images made me realize it was a field I wanted to pursue.”
But, like many students, she needs loans to learn. “Our family has lived on a single income for the last year-and-a-half, so, this scholarship provides meaningful stability during my education,” Miles said.
“It’s especially meaningful to receive support from an organization rooted in Christian values.”
Almost 150 years old, IOKDS started in New York with a circle of women who, “In His (Christ’s) Name, served to better their community,” said DeLee, now of Collinsville.
Eventually, IOKDS embarked on a worldwide mission. But membership has waned, and it will shift to an association of local circles. As part of this plan, IOKDS leaders elected to collect funds from property sell-offs to finance perpetual scholarships for six universities – UMMC among them.
The lives of Green, Hayes and Miles are among the reasons that “it’s very fitting that the University of Mississippi Medical Center receives these scholarships,” DeLee said.
“And I’m grateful to assist in making this award to UMMC for giving me the life I have now.”
To support the University of Mississippi Medical Center, visit http://www.umc.edu/givenow/ or contact Meredith Aldridge, executive director of development, at 601-815-7469 or mmaldridge@umc.edu.
By Gary Pettus/UMMC Communications