Missing A Friend Tonight

RIP Val Sullivan

I woke up to some very sad and shocking news this morning. The world lost a truly amazing and kind person who happened to be a healthcare professional.

Val Sullivan passed away last night at the young age of 60 and I feel really sad about it. Here is her obituary. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/valerie-sullivan-obituary?id=54194364&fbclid=IwAR3EWJlLtGGI8IuXK4XF70Uk1ld6ZCRAwJdAEU2F6RFkMrQ37U3BUbFNauA

I met Val in 2007 when I had just started as the Managing Editor of a publication called Today’s Wound Clinic. We had recently launched the journal and were growing it from a twice-yearly publication to a monthly one. Val was one of the founding members of my editorial board, and having zero clinical knowledge I leaned on these folks dearly and still consider many of them friends to this day.

When I had a crazy idea of taking static print journals and creating the company's first multimedia content in 2008 and posting it on social media and YouTube, Val was completely on board. But it’s always easy to just agree on a board call. When I showed up at the yearly tradeshow with basically a camcorder and a backdrop banner, she didn’t flinch and gave me her valuable time while I filmed an interview with her.

Val and I clicked instantly. Her smile was genuine, and our conversations were real and never forced. I could tell she was passionate about patient care from the start. After wound care, we kept in touch on Facebook and we often chatted about how we both found love, the birth of my kids, her long-awaited wedding and LGBT rights, her health battles, and more.

I was shocked to learn that she was on the 1991 US Women's Rugby Team that won the World Cup in Wales and was later inducted into the Rugby Hall of Fame.?I learned this via a Facebook post because Val never bragged, never had an ego, she just lived.

Val was there for me when my dad was going through cancer. Tonight I was re-reading some of our chats and I had lots of questions and she had lots of great advice. Val had battled cancer herself and at the time had appeared to beat it. She was a kind and supportive friend to me at that time and I will never forget it.

It was an honor for me to work with Valerie Sullivan but even more of an honor to call her a friend. Thank you for everything, Val.

At the beginning of 2024, I posted on LinkedIn that I would post public thank you’s to some of the amazing individuals who have helped me in my career over the past 24 years. Val was one of those greats. If we are lucky, most of us have many influences in our careers.

I waited too long to tell Val how much she meant to me, and this is why I am starting this series with her. I want to thank as many important people as I can, while I can. Thank you for reading this.