"I Feel Special Today": Wanda and the Team Chad Courtesy Van

Wanda was 69 when she started riding in the Team Chad van. She had breast cancer, monthly infusion appointments, and no reliable way to get to them.

Then someone at Nashville General told her about a program that would come pick her up.

"When they told me about this opportunity from Team Chad, I said, oh my goodness, it couldn't have come at a better time."

Wanda, Nashville General Hospital patient

The question every patient asks

Ask anyone who schedules appointments at Nashville General and they will tell you the same thing. The visit gets booked, and then comes the question.

"Immediately when we give that follow-up appointment, these patients are like, well, how am I going to get there?"

 

For patients in active cancer treatment, the ride is often the hardest part of the day. Some do not drive. Some do not feel safe driving after chemotherapy. Some have family who would take them, but only by missing a shift they cannot afford to miss.

The treatment can be arranged. The ride, for a long time, could not.

What Team Chad gave

On January 17, 2023, Team Chad handed Nashville General Hospital Foundation the keys to a wheelchair-accessible van built to carry eight passengers, two wheelchairs, and a driver.

The Team Chad Fund at Nashville General Hospital Foundation provides non-clinical financial assistance to oncology patients. Rent. Utilities. Medically guided foods. And transportation, which is what the van is for.

What it meant to Wanda

Wanda talks about the van the way people talk about being treated well, not about being transported.

"When you're sick, when you're not feeling well, when you gotta get dressed, you gotta take a shower, just knowing that transportation is available for where you gotta go gives you an extra fresh breath to breathe."

Wanda

She rode in a Mercedes van, and she wanted her son to know about it.

"Oh my goodness, to be picked up in a Mercedes. That was like, OK, I feel special today. I tell my son, I was like, you might be driving an 18-wheeler, but I was in the Mercedes this morning."

Wanda

The point is not the badge on the hood. It is what a patient hears when a hospital sends a good vehicle for them.

"It makes me feel like I'm important, that even though things may be going through my life, my health is not the best, it still uplifts my spirits and keeps me going for another day."

Wanda

Who Chad was

Chad Welch was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 27 and died at 30. While he was in treatment he noticed how many patients were in the hospital alone, and how many were choosing between a paycheck and an appointment.

His friends and fraternity brothers started Team Chad to answer that. The van is one of the things that answer looks like. Read the full story of Team Chad's first twenty years.

Support the Team Chad Fund

Give at nashgenfoundation.org/funds, or contact Nashville General Hospital Foundation at 615-341-4431 or Foundation@nashvilleha.org.