fabricflowers

I had signed papers for the doctors to amputate my leg," the Westport woman recalls. "To save my life, they felt like that was what they were going to have to do.But when they were pushing the bed to the operating room, the doctors saw a little bit of color come back to my toes, so they decided to try to reattach it."

After an initial bone graft and five weeks in a hospital in Iowa, where she grew up, Kramer had to undergo another bone graft and several skin grafts, after which she spent another two months in the hospital. After she was released, she spent two years in a cast and on crutches.During her lengthy hospitalization, a seed was planted in her mind that one day she would like to give back and help other patients.

Today, that seed has blossomed into the Flowers for Patients program at Norwalk Hospital, which Kramer spearheaded on a small scale a few years ago and watched grow into a community effort.Local florists and grocers donate flowers they have not used and would otherwise discard to volunteers, who then create floral arrangements for patients to brighten their day.I think it is so fabulous because otherwise these flowers would be thrown away," said Kramer. "And when I see the joy that it gives the patients ... they are just flabbergasted they are able to receive these flowers for free.

We also make bouquets for the executive office and the (human resources) office and the volunteer office and the chapel. When you are moving through the hospital, everybody comments. They love the bouquets. It makes the whole place more cheery."

Kramer said that she has a friend in North Carolina who is involved in a similar program and thought it would be a wonderful program to introduce at Norwalk Hospital, where she has been a volunteer for nearly six years. Before she started the Flowers for Patients program, she was an ambassador and visited with patients to make sure they were enjoying their stay. She also volunteered in the emergency room waiting room.