POULSBO — Emily Jensen said she and Phoenix Solis have a lot in common — namely that neither have the slightest inclination to give up.
“There’s people out there who do the whole poor me, poor me, poor me thing and then there’s people like us,” Jensen told the 12-year-old Poulsbo resident recently.
Jensen, of Poulsbo, recently coordinated two blood drives in honor of Solis, who underwent her fifth open heart surgery this summer. The Poulsbo Junior High student was born with tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia — a condition where the arteries and valves of her heart are not fully formed.
The first blood drive for Solis was held Sept. 2 at Christ Memorial Church and the second takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Central Market.
The idea to honor the Poulsbo girl’s courageous fight came from Greg Supancheck, Donor Response Representative for Puget Sound Blood Centers. He met Jensen earlier this year when she was moved by the story of Bremerton Marine Randal Rosacker’s death in combat and wanted to honor him with a blood drive.
When Supancheck read a news story about Solis, he decided to see if Jensen would once again help honor a community member she’d never met before. He said Jensen’s work is exactly what he likes to see in communities the blood center serves.
“What I need to have people do is focus on why they need to donate and put a face to it. Otherwise there’s no meaning to it,” he explained.
Jensen, who was born with spina bifida, has never let her physical differences or perceived limitations slow her down. For instance, she was told she’d never be able to have children but today she’s the mother of the bubbly Zach, 2, and is eagerly awaiting the birth of a daughter in November.
Jensen said reading the story of Solis’ surgeries inspired her.
“I read the article choking and tearing up the whole way,” Jensen said. “I’ve had spina bifida all my life and when I see kids like Phoenix, I think what I’ve gone through is no big deal.”
Phoenix’s father Tony Solis said that attitude is exactly what his family has tried to hold on to throughout their ordeal.
“No matter how bad we feel or she feels we always walk out of the hospital thinking, ‘Wow, I’m glad I’m not as bad off as some other people,’” he said. “She walked out of the hospital. Some kids will not walk out of there. We feel lucky.”
Despite a small scare in the operating room, Tony Solis said his daughter’s most recent surgery went well.
While she still faces a long recovery and occasional other surgeries, Phoenix is just like any kid her age. She said when she grows up she wants to be a veterinarian and she loves J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, watching television and hanging out with her friends. She agreed she has quite the “What I did on my summer vacation” story but said she has a hard time remembering much of the hospital stay because of the drugs doctors gave her.
“I can barely remember any of the surgeries, it almost feels like I’ve not been there,” Phoenix said.
Looking at his only child, who he said is getting better and better every day, Tony added that his family feels grateful for people like Jensen. He laughed recalling that Jensen left the family messages everywhere she could think of to get their permission to hold the event in Phoenix’s honor. He said they didn’t even hesitate to give their blessing.
“We’ve seen a lot of good things come out of this experience like this blood drive,” Tony said.
He added that the family, which lives on their sailboat at the Port of Poulsbo Marina, has had many strangers like Jensen show them a great deal of support over the summer. Most, like Jensen, the family has been able to thank in person. However one person still remains elusive — a Poulsbo resident named Marty Gordon.
“We’d like to get in touch with him. He’s not listed,” Tony said. “He sent her a card when she was in the hospital saying he’d never met her, he’d just seen her in the mornings at the bus stop reading a book. The card said you never know how much your life will be touched by the people who you cross paths with every day.”
