The new foundation seal appeared.
THE EMILIA CARTER NATIONAL PEDIATRIC HEART FUND
Initial Endowment: $200,000,000
Gasps moved through the crowd.
I continued.
“The fund will provide surgical grants, emergency transport, hospital family housing, research support, and medical debt relief for families facing pediatric cardiac crises. No parent should have to choose between a child’s life and financial ruin.”
A doctor near the side wiped his eyes.
I looked down at my notes, but the words blurred.
So I stopped reading.
“My grandfather once told me that buildings are not legacy. People are. Every child who leaves this hospital with a stronger heartbeat is Emilia’s legacy.”
Applause began softly.
Then rose.
I stepped back, overwhelmed.
That was when a small voice called from the front row.
“Miss Carter?”
The crowd parted.
A little boy stood beside a woman in a nurse’s uniform. He was maybe six years old, thin but bright-eyed, with a small scar visible above the collar of his shirt.
