Carol St. Henry is a nurse anesthetist and one of the 7,500 vaccinated medical frontliners to sit in the stands at super LV. When she heard about the opportunity for medical frontliners to attend the game she mailed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a handwritten letter. To her surprise, the NFL contacted her with a ticket to go to Super Bowl.
However, the day was more to her than the biggest football game of the year, instead, it was a day filled with appreciation and recognition. The NFL planned a whole day of activities for the frontliners. Starting with a tailgate concert and an appearance by the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell.
Goodell set the tone for the very special day, telling the healthcare heroes the work they have done is absolutely extraordinary, courageous and something that all of us admire so greatly. He ended by saying they’re the heroes that will be in the stands during the big game.
St. Henry says Goodell’s speech was very special and appreciation continued all day long.
When the medical frontliners enter the stadium, Super Bowl workers clapped for them and there was also a moment during the game where all the healthcare heroes were asked to stand and the crowd gave them a round of applause. She says it was absolutely unbelievable how much respect and appreciation all the frontliners received.
Even though everyone in the stands was spread out among cardboard cutouts St. Henry felt a feeling of closeness.
“You felt like you were sitting with people who worked so hard to get here. I was sitting around people I have never met and they believed in what I believed in to get vaccinated and life will get better,” says St. Henry.
Now she believes she must bring new momentum to her co-workers at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan. St. Henry hopes to bring back the excitement that the pandemic will get better and the pride she felt during the Super Bowl to be a healthcare worker and the hope for the future.
To top off her amazing day at Super Bowl LV St. Henry says she had a pinch-me moment that also brought her back to her hometown team the Detroit Lions. She was lucky enough to sit in the second row of an end zone. So when the NFL brought the players out who were being inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in the end zone she was sitting behind and she spotted one of her favorite players, Calvin Johnson she did what any fan would try and do, try and get his attention. When Johnson turned around she started shaking her Lions sweatshirt she was wearing and he saw and pointed to her.
But at Super Bowl LV, St. Henry was cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs and even though they didn’t win we will all win again soon. She says her team lost and that’s okay because the country is going to win soon.
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