Over the past two years, the Walla Walla health care community has faced three unexpected losses. Friends, family and coworkers say the deaths of Melissa Harting, Rob Becker and Ryan Pleasants have left a huge hole.
They hope to fill that hole a tiny bit by raising scholarship money for nursing students and towards career advancement for EMS providers. To do that, they’re putting on the second annual Walla Walla Heroes Memorial Run on Oct. 11.
Harting was an emergency department nurse with an irreverent sense of humor and a husky laugh.
“ You could hear her laugh echo through the department,” said Deanne Wilbur, a friend and coworker. “Her energy was unmatched.”
The 44-year-old was like a mother hen to her patients at Providence St. Mary Medical Center. Her coworkers said she made sure her they did things the right way the first time and always told people to “plug that EKG machine back in” after they finished using it.
Becker taught Harting many of those nursing skills. He was the lead nursing instructor at Walla Walla Community College.
“ He loved his students and he would do anything for them,” said Patti Becker, his wife.
At 68, he’d taught many nurses in the Walla Walla Valley.
“ Rob was so encouraging. I think of all my instructors, he was the one that really stood out to me, making me feel like, ‘You’ve got this. I believe in you,’” said Jen Davy, who is helping organize the run. “I was excited for cardiology. He made cardiology easy.”
When Rob suffered a cardiac event at his home, his wife said many of his students took care of him at the hospital.
“ Two or three of the nurses that were in the emergency room helping him were former students of his, which was hard for them as well,” Patti said. “But it was pretty amazing to watch them work.”
She also watched first responders that night come into her home.
Being a paramedic and firefighter was a job 41-year-old Pleasants took seriously.
“ He delivered top-tier care wherever he went,” Davy said. “I personally remember him in stressful situations, injecting just a little bit of humor along into the gravity of the situation.”
Pleasants also wanted to pass along his knowledge to younger firefighters.
“ He was also known for his dedication and commitment to his family. So his loss has really been felt throughout the whole fire community throughout the state,” Wilbur said.
Last year, around 300 people ran and walked the course. Now, organizers hope many more people sign up.
“It was surreal to look around at the race itself and just see hundreds and hundreds of people,” Davy said. “Each one of these individuals meant something to (Melissa, Rob and Ryan) in different capacities, different relationships. We were all misty-eyed at various points.”
The race will travel through Walla Walla’s Mill Creek Nature Pathway.
It will be also be held in conjunction with the annual Falla Walla 10K and half-marathon.
The 5K will have three top female and three top male finishers. However, Davy said, you don’t have to go for a PR on race day.
“ You can certainly join if you’re a professional runner and wanna make that time,” she said. “But there’s a lot of people walking, pushing strollers, walking their dogs.”
It’ll be a day of what she called “community remembrance.”
“We all depend on health care workers and first responders at some point in our life,” Davy said. “So obviously funding these scholarships is of super high importance.”
