Career Aspirations Nursed Back to Health, Tammy Pesaresi Readies to Graduate from Niagara University
Tammy Pesaresi has always been drawn to the elderly. When she was 16, her passion led her to apply, and get hired, for a nurse’s aide position that allowed her to care for the nuns at Stella Niagara.
“I loved caring for their aging bodies and helping them take in liquids or some nourishment,” affirmed Pesaresi. “Some people go into nursing because it’s steady employment. For me, it is a calling. Nursing is caring for the mind, body and spirit. I knew this was – and is – my purpose.”
Despite this sense of purpose, Pesaresi fell on troubled times, dropped out of high school and earned a GED. She enrolled in a few classes at Niagara County Community College, but those didn’t go very well either. Her aspirations of becoming a registered nurse were on life support, so to speak.
Pesaresi got married in 1991, had two children and, in 1995, returned to NCCC in hopes of becoming a licensed practical nurse. She graduated with LPN credentials in 1996 and was scheduled to take the state boards that fall.
Her life was back on track – or so it seemed.
The night before Pesaresi was to take the state boards – Oct. 14, 1996 – the unthinkable happened. Pesaresi was working as a charge nurse at Fairchild Manor in Lewiston when she received a phone call informing her that her eldest child, Nicolle, was involved in a catastrophic accident and had been flown to Children’s Hospital by Mercy Flight.
Despite clamorous attempts to save her, Nicolle passed away. She was 5 years old.