Cheryl Livingston has been an emergency medical technician with Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon for the past 10 years. From serving as the local Waukon Chamber of Commerce president to helping high school students experience what life will be like through a reality finance program, she has made a difference in the Waukon community and started all of this at a very young age. 

As impressive as those actions are, they pale in comparison to her work with families impacted by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The death of her three-month-old son, Ethan, four years ago fueled a desire to form an infant loss support group for families impacted by the death of any child during pregnancy or shortly following.  This support group is now offering an annual memory walk each fall and is currently constructing a memory wall in Waukon’s city park. 

Cheryl and her entire family fund and implement a new product or service for pediatric patients at the hospital each year in Ethan’s memory. Thanks to their donations, all of the babies born at Veterans are kept safe in a trademarked SleepSack; the hospital has a new pediatric emergency room; both ambulances have DVD players; and clay molds are now given to families of their deceased infant’s hands and feet.

Beyond all of her generosity, what is most outstanding about Cheryl is her ability to instruct emergency medical service departments and high school health classes all across the state on how to respond to SIDS and other pediatric emergencies, and how to comfort those families.  Cheryl also serves on the board of directors of the Iowa SIDS Foundation.

Each day, Cheryl exceeds expectations for Veterans’ emergency patients.  Her integrity is unbelievable.  She has taken something that could have been very negative in her life and turned it into such a positive thing for so many people. And each year she continues to do even more – setting an example for her coworkers, the community and her adorable two-year-old twin daughters!