Two Arkansas Institute of Technology professors are leading a fundraiser to establish the Corey Brook Heath Memorial Scholarship.
The lives of Dr. Karmen Goodner and Dr. Jeremy Schwehm were moved in a clearly different but equally powerful way by Heath, who passed away on May 29, 2023.
Heath, a graduate of Russellville High School, was a senior nursing student at ATU when the brain tumor claimed her life.
The brain cancer diagnosis given in 2022 was 10 years after Heath’s initial diagnosis. And during Heath’s initial diagnosis, Heath’s path crossed the Schwem path.
That first meeting happened in River Valley Superhero 5K in 2014. Morgan, the two-year-old daughter of Heath and Schwem, 13, were two of the three recipients at the event.
Morgan, now 13, was experiencing her own cancer journey at the time when she and Heath met at a pre-race promotional event.
Morgan struggled that day, recalls Schwehm, ATU professor and program director of organizational studies. Morgan was feeling unwell and had just been treated. Furthermore, “She wasn’t the most extroverted child and didn’t want to be around the crowd.”
Then something happened.
“This girl we didn’t know at the time walked over to Morgan and saw Morgan really suffering physically and mentally,” Schwem said.
“This little girl came in and started talking to her, playing with her, really calmed Morgan down. What we didn’t know at the time was Corey Heath, who was being treated for a brain tumor.
“From that point on, there was a connection between Korey and Morgan. They weren’t like best friends. They ran to each other at various events in town. And every time Morgan and Corey interacted, it was meaningful and important to Morgan. Korey did that.”
What Schwem quickly learned was, “Korey would only have a natural way of reading what others are experiencing and would provide what they need at the time.”
What Schwem later learned was that Korey’s compassion for Morgan was something that Collie showed to many others on a daily basis.
Goodner’s connection with Heath came a few years later when Heath and her twin sister, Casey, were juniors in the ATU nursing program.
Goodner, an assistant professor of nursing at ATU, did not know Heath’s story of pediatric cancer.
“The way I knew her was this clever, ambitious, very kind and considerate student,” Goodner said. “And I know it’s a cliché, but she literally lit the room.”
Heath is like the student that every professor wants, and the type of student that every clinical instructor wants, especially because of the level of care and compassion she demonstrates in a clinical setting.
Meanwhile, Heath’s cancer has returned.
Goodner said Heath was undergoing treatment and at one point he was hospitalized as a result of side effects. However, once discharged from the hospital, Heath quickly returned to her research, Goodner recalled.
“Her ultimate goal was to become a nurse, so she never wanted to be late,” Goodner said. Heath’s commitment to nursing stems from the influence he felt by nurses while undergoing treatment as a young person.
Yes, care from doctors is critical, Goodner said, “But nurses are open 24/7. They are people who connect with patients and advocate.”
Heath wanted to fulfill that role as a nurse.
“As a nurse, I need a special heart and a special type of person to work in pediatrics, especially in oncology specialties. That’s where Cory was influenced at such a young age. That’s what she was trying to do. She’d be a nurse in pediatric oncology,” Goodner said.
“The last time I spoke to Korey, she had just been released from the hospital. For treatment, she was too weak to walk at this point, and her voice was very broken and trembling, very weak… But she was still very mentally driven. Her mental strength didn’t shake,” Goodner recalled.
“I asked how she was doing. She said, ‘I’m doing well, I’m going to finish this.’ She was so confident and so hopeful that she was going to become a nurse and end this program. ”
Heath received his posthumous nursing degree in December 2023. My sister, Casey, received her nursing degree in honor of her.
Currently, donors to the scholarship fund help to honor Heath’s memory. And it’s no coincidence that Goodner and Schwehm want to reach their $30,000 goal in September.
Goodner said that if the awardee’s application “subject to a $30,000 goal as early as spring 2025, by the end of this year, the first scholarship was awarded in the fall of 2025.”
The application process is open to all nursing students, but the demonstrated interest from applicants in pediatric oncology is carefully considered. These scholarships will help you celebrate Heath’s legacy.
“This is important to me,” Goodner said. “I want to see her for a year and see her strength and determination, and do what I can to not know anyone like Korey, not be inspired, and to honor that memory.”
“One thing that I noticed when Korey was diagnosed again and she passed away was that Corey, Corey’s sister Casey, or Corey’s parents never said what it meant to their family, especially their daughter Morgan,” Schwem said.
It’s too late to let Korey know that, but Schwehm says this scholarship is a way to honor Korey for what she did for her family. And after speaking to a nursing faculty member, Schwem said, “I quickly learned that it wasn’t just the family that was influenced by Korey.”
Through the creation of the scholarship, “We not only want to remember Korey, but also want to respect who she is, but also support other people who have the thinking of that service that they want to go to the medical field, particularly nurses, and provide the financial support they need,” Schwem said.
Donations to the scholarship can be made at www.atualumni.com/koreyheathscholarship.
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Tommy Mamat, director of the Arkansas Institute of Technology News Bureau between 1989 and 2007, by an assistant professor of journalism at the ATU Bureau of Communications and Media Studies.
