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Westminster Christian School Senior Isabella Galbis spent the first couple months of her junior year visiting her 14-year-old brother in the hospital.
“My younger brother had a heart attack,” she says. “He had a very difficult journey to recovery.”
Her brother spent about a month at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital before being transferred to a rehabilitative facility in Jacksonville and then returning home.
“They never gave us a reason for why it happened,” she says. “They never gave us a confirmed answer.”
Her brother has been able to return to school. He still does therapy every day.
“I did everything with him,” she says. “I would go outside and throw a lacrosse ball and see if he could catch it. I went for walks with him.”
One of the things that helped her through the ordeal was the fact that she had a support system.
“You realized just how important your family and friends are,” she says. “I was overwhelmed with my support system, which I know not a lot of other people have. I wanted others to feel like they too had a support system through me.”
Walking through hospital corridors and realizing how many kids were in those rooms, she felt she needed to do something. So she started the Beautiful Impact Club, starting with 100 members. They put together baskets filled with socks, therapeutic items such as Silly Putty (for strengthening hands), balls and bubbles (for strengthening lungs).
The basket includes the book Guess How Much I Love You, a stuffed animal, postcards with encouraging messages, a blanket with encouraging words, a gift card and a personalized poster upon the request of the family.
Galbis says they include the poster based on what she learned when she decorated her brother’s room with photos.
“In an unfamiliar environment, he got to see his friends and the faces of the people he recognized,” she says. “My club will make a poster with pictures for patients to create that homey-feel.”
Before starting the project, she talked to the people who worked with her brother to aid his recovery. They suggested including gift cards to help the family pay for the gas to get to the hospital.
One thing she hopes to organize at some point is a CPR certification class to help people be prepared for unexpected situations.
At school, Galbis is involved in numerous extracurricular activities, starting with student leadership.
“I’ve had the opportunity to head the Spirit Committee,” she says. “We put together Homecoming, prom and pep rallies, and the advertisements of the events.”
She’s a member of the National Honor Society, the English National Honor Society, Rho Kappa, the Foreign Language National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta.
She’s also vice president of the Thespian Honor Society.
“I’ve been a part of 13 productions,” she says.
She’s performed in six competitions and has received a superior rating for all six.
“Last year I was selected to go to the state competition for a monologue,” she says.
Galbis works with the Westminster Admissions department and speaks to people who are considering attending the school.
Between theater, working on the Spirt Committee, and working with the Admissions Department, she says she’s learned to express herself. When people approach her after the tours and ask about Westminster, she tells them she blossomed attending the school.
“This is the place you want to send your child,” she says.
In college she wants to major in business with the goal of going into entertainment law and the business side of the entertainment industry.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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