Emerald Isle woman is Caregiver of the Year

Tideland News, Swansboro NC
By Annita Best

May 3, 2006

EMERALD ISLE, N.C. _ Although many of us expect that some day we will be called upon to offer home care for an elderly parent or grandparent, most of us don’t expect to have to begin healthcare for a vigorously healthy spouse early in marriage.

Kim and Randy Hebert of Emerald Isle had only been married a few years when he was diagnosed with the rare degenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Kim never missed a beat.

Yesterday, after quietly serving as her family’s caregiver for more than 11 years, Kim was honored publicly for the incredible care she has given Randy when the Association for Home and Hospice Care of North Carolina presented her with the Family Caregiver of the Year Award for 2005 at their annual convention in Raleigh.

Nominated by Bobby Shoemake of 3HC-Home Health and Hospice Care, Inc. in Goldsboro, she was chosen based on an anonymous submission.

“I began thinking about nominating Kim when I was at last year’s convention,” he said.

“I had been to her home and had seen her interact with Randy and I witnessed, first-hand, the great care she provided for him.

“I researched their situation on the Internet – there is so much about both of them out there – and put together the nomination form based on information I got from there and from talking to other folks who knew them.”

Some of the criteria for the award includes a promotion of the patient’s well being, enhanced quality of life and maximum independence; ability to learn care instructions and to intervene appropriately and adjustments made to the caregiver’s personal life in order to provide the proper care.

Tim Rogers, executive vice president of AHHC, presented the award before approximately 700 attendees of the 34^th annual convention and said there is no one more deserving than Kim Hebert for this award.

“Even though her husband is on a ventilator and can only communicate with his eyes, our nominee says, ‘It is important that he be allowed to be a man … to be the head of the household … to be a father and a husband.’ While most people caring for someone with advanced ALS would find it overwhelming to maintain ‘normalcy’ our nominee says that it was never a question.”

Kim was also acknowledged for her success in coordinating the Walk to D’Feat ALS in North Carolina – raising a record $156,000 last September in Emerald Isle.

Reading from the nomination package, Rogers said, “Our nominee has been an eminent figure in the field of ALS advocacy. In 1996 she sat side-by-side with her husband as he testified before the House Government and Oversight Committee regarding his exposure to nerve gas during Operation Desert Storm.”

“What she has done for her husband is extremely rare,” Shoemake added. “Not only does she provide care for him, but she does it so well. We had a team from New York visit their home last year and they were all so impressed with what they observed at the Hebert home. It is just so unusual to see someone with Randy’s disease look so good and she is mostly responsible for how well he is doing.”

Kim thanked the folks from AHHC for nominating her and for helping to provide Randy with such good and loving care over the years.

“I also want to thank Randy for his example of courage and faith to me and anyone who knows him. He is the real hero and deserves the award,” she said.

However, Randy agrees with the AHHC that Kim has been an exceptional caregiver for him.

“In the 12 years we’ve been dealing with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, my wife has been the strongest advocate for my care and my true champion,” he said. “Be it wheelchairs, communication computers, medical equipment, nursing hours or the procurement of a commercial generator; Kim never accepted ‘no’ for an answer.