Patient Spotlight Archive

April 8, 2026

Great Saves event reunites former patients with those who provided lifesaving care  

They and their families shared their journeys back to health, from initial illness followed by weeks to months in the SICU, to their ongoing rehabilitation and recovery. 

March 31, 2026

Memorial fund honors patient whose life was saved by Vanderbilt Health neurosurgeons  

Charlotte Davis’ family, grateful for Vanderbilt Health’s role in extending her life, has set up a fund in her memory to support neurosurgical research and patient care.  

March 18, 2026

Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine enrolls first Down syndrome participant for Alzheimer’s disease study

Evan Dewey and his family travel from Atlanta to participate in the ABATE study, a clinical trial evaluating a treatment that could reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease development in individuals with Down syndrome

March 6, 2026

A Clarksville nurse’s delivery became a race against time, and two lives were saved

Ariel Chavis felt everything going wrong as she delivered her daughter. But attentive nurses and surgeons ensured she and her baby made it through. 

Compassionate care met determination as burn patient Sean Smith worked toward recovery.
February 20, 2026

Kitchen fire to cap and gown: College senior’s meal prep accident led to 17 days at Vanderbilt Burn Center — and a fight to get back in the gym

Smith was told that his burns couldn’t be fully treated locally so he would be airlifted to either the Vanderbilt Burn Center in Nashville or the University of Louisville.

February 2, 2026

Pom-poms for a new era: Briceton Latta’s next cystic fibrosis chapter

When Briceton Latta was born in 2006, the average life expectancy of a patient with CF was 37. Today, that expectancy is 65 and beyond.