As a cast member on 92.5 KISS FM’s “The Morning Rush,” and husband to 13abc newscaster Shaun Hegarty, Sara Hegarty is used to sharing intimate details of her life with the listening public. But one day last year, she was terrified about the prospect of doing so.

Just a few weeks prior, Sara and Shaun’s son Gabriel had been delivered stillborn.

“I remember directly after having him, wanting to hide in the house for as long as possible and never have to talk about what had happened publicly,” Sara said in an interview with Toledo Free Press. “I hid away for quite a while. And when I felt like I was strong enough to go back to work, I never dreaded going on air as much as I dreaded it that day.”

Now, more than a year later, Sara is sharing her story as part of a drive to help other families who went through what hers did. Throughout October, the Hegartys, along with the March of Dimes Northwest Ohio Division, are holding a drive for Gabriel’s Gowns, a project that provides burial clothes for stillborn children or babies who die shortly after birth.

The idea for the gowns, which are crafted from donated wedding dresses, was inspired by a Texas group whose YouTube account caught Sara’s eye.

“It was one of those viral videos where you just couldn’t open up Facebook or YouTube without seeing it,” she said. “And so I watched it, and I watched it a few times. And then, I went back a week later and I watched it a few more times, and I sent it to people I thought would appreciate it. And one of those people was my husband.

“At night, after the kids would go to bed, I would tell him, ‘I just wish we had something like that here. … I wish we could have it everywhere — every family deserves something that special.’ I kept talking about it and talking about it and he would just listen and look at me. And all of a sudden, it dawned on me that if I wanted it here, I was going to have to do it here.”

Sara began to discuss the idea with Dawn Lyman, the executive director of the Toledo branch of March of Dimes. (Hegarty is on the group’s board of directors.)

“She jumped on it,” Hegarty said. “She had two little boys who died at 21 weeks — twins. And so this project means just as much to her as it does to me. And she said, ‘Of course, let’s do this.’ And so over the summer, she was the one who went out and spoke to the hospitals. And it didn’t take much convincing — the hospitals were ready to go.”

Every donated dress can be crafted into 10-12 burial gowns. ProMedica and Mercy hospital systems will distribute the garments upon their completion, which Hegarty estimates will happen sometime around the new year.

Hegarty said she has been amazed at the outpouring of support, from those who have donated dresses to those who have given their time and expertise to make the gowns.

“I’ve gotten emails upon messages, and emails through Facebook and people have called me to tell me their story. Because they thought, ‘She shared with me her story. I want to tell her my story, of my child.’ Whether they lived for a few hours, or whether they died and were born sleeping, like Gabriel was, they share these very personal stories with me, and I am so honored and touched. This has been more than I ever could have expected.”

The sharing of those stories — and her own — is a big part of what makes this project so important, Hegarty said.

“I can’t remember another time in my life where it felt like Shaun and I were the only two people in the world going through this pain. And in actuality, we’re not. One out of every 160 births is stillborn. That’s one baby every 20 minutes who is born sleeping. I mean, you don’t know that — that emotional time, you think that nobody else will ever feel this pain. So I just want them to know that they’re not alone.”

Dresses can be donated at March of Dimes, 3450 W. Central Ave., Suite 352. Drop-off times are 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays, 8 a.m. to noon Thursdays, or by appointment. For more information, visit gabrielsgowns.org.

The Most Rev. Daniel E. Thomas was installed as the eighth Roman Catholic Bishop of Toledo on Oct. 22, promising to follow the example of devotion to Jesus Christ set by the late pope, St. John Paul II, whose papal inauguration took place 36 years ago that same day.

Daniel E. Thomas was installed as bishop of Toledo during an Oct. 22 ceremony at Rosary Cathedral. Photo by Stephanie Schweller / courtesy Catholic Chronicle“I thought it was magnificent,” Thomas said in an interview with Toledo Free Press the following day. “The whole church was gathered together as one.”

The installation took place inside a filled-to-capacity Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral on Collingwood Boulevard, and was broadcast live on TV, radio and Internet both locally and nationally.

Catholic leaders from across the United States were in attendance, including New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Archbishops Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, and Cincinnati’s Dennis Schnurr were the installing bishops.

Former Toledo Bishop and current Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford and Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, along with Schnurr and Viganò, all concelebrated the Mass, with Thomas serving as the main celebrant.

Installation homily

Thomas, the former auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, offered the homily and used a chalice and paten his parents gave him upon his 1985 ordination. St. John Paul II used the chalice and paten during a private 1995 Mass in Philadelphia, and Thomas frequently mentioned the former pope in his homily.

Thomas was overcome with emotion and had to pause when speaking about St. John Paul II, who during a Philadelphia visit was found prostrate alone, praying in front of the Eucharist after a long day when most had already retired for the night.

He also delivered a message to Pope Francis, via Viganò:  “Please tell Pope Francis that we love Christ, we love the church and we love him.”

Thomas also thanked his Toledo predecessor, Blair, who is now serving the Diocese of Hartford, Connecticut, as archbishop.

“Thank you archbishop, for 10 years of fidelity, apostolic zeal and witness,” Thomas said. “We are grateful.”

In addressing his fellow priests, Thomas referenced a rectory-owned stained glass window depicting Jesus as the “Good Shepherd,” and offered:

“I love you. I can’t wait to get to know you and I can’t wait for you to get to know me. The task of each bishop, together with the people, is to announce the good news and proclaim Christ. My dear brother priests, I am one with you in the priesthood. I pray that we may always be one in heart and mind in the priesthood.”

Thomas offered similar words of comfort to everyday lay Catholics, hoping to work together for Jesus.

“I love you, and I hope that in your daily lives as husbands and wives, moms and dads, sons and daughters, each day you will live in Christ so that together we might announce the new evangelization,” Thomas said.

The rosary, a popular form of Catholic prayer and meditation long promoted and beloved by previous popes, was also referenced by Thomas.

“To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his mother,” Thomas said. He also pledged to add a depiction of the relatively newer Luminous Mysteries to the Cathedral; the five mysteries focusing on the public ministry of Jesus were added to the Rosary by St. John Paul II in 2002.

He also specifically addressed the youth and elderly, asking the youth to be his “wings” and the elderly the “roots” of his ministry.

Background

Thomas said he first considered becoming a priest at as young as 7 years old, but the thought of becoming a bishop never entered his mind, even as a young adult.

“Never,” he said. “I certainly thought of being a priest. The one thing that I kept in my heart was being a priest. I answered that call as a senior in high school.”

Thomas was born and raised in Philadelphia, and attended Catholic schools through high school. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and later a licentiate in sacred theology in 1989 from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

He was ordained a priest in Philadelphia in 1985 and served as a parish priest until 1990, when he was assigned to serve the Holy See as an official of the Congregation for Bishops, the section of the Roman Curia that coordinates the selection of candidates for the episcopacy. There he also served as adjunct spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College seminary in Rome.

In 1995 he was named Monsignor by Pope John Paul II, who in 2005 also named him a Prelate of Honor. That same year he returned to Pennsylvania as a parish priest, and in 2006 was ordained auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia.

Thomas has also served on several archdiocesan boards and remains a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, the Ad Hoc Committee on Catechism and the Committee on Divine Worship. He is also a member of the National Advisory Council for the Saint John Vianney Center in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and the Episcopal Advisory Board for the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors.

Impression of Toledo

Bishop Thomas exits Rosary Cathedral Oct. 22 followign his installation eighth bishop. In the foreground is Master of Ceremonies Daniel Demski Flanked by the Knights of Columbus on the steps. Photo and Cover Photo by Scott Grau / Courtesy Catholic Chronicle

The Diocese of Toledo differs from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in many ways, the greatest of which may be the need for a reliable vehicle if Thomas plans to visit the diocese’s 319,907 Catholics as he intends.

In Toledo, he shepherds a flock smaller in size, yet much more widespread.

The Diocese of Toledo measures 8,222 square miles across 19 counties, compared to Philadelphia’s 2,202 square miles in just five densely populated counties; Toledo’s diocesan population is 1,465,561 residents, compared to Philadelphia’s 4,050,793.

Parishes and priests are also easier to come by in America’s fifth-largest city. Toledo has 124 parishes and 159 priests, compared to Philadelphia’s 235 parishes and 523 priests.

Toledo has 58 diocesan elementary schools and 10,778 students; Philadelphia has 128 schools with 45,613 students.

Certainly no two dioceses are the same, but Thomas said he embraces the switch in locale and believes Toledo and Philadelphia are more alike than it first may seem.

“I had an experience of moving to a foreign country,” he said. “Those differences weigh in comparison.”

Once, Thomas said, while having dinner in Italy with his parents and friends, his mother expressed regret for not being able to speak the local language. An Italian friend countered with an assurance that instantly made the world seem smaller: “No, no, we speak the language of love. We are a family of faith.”

A bishop for others

While the new bishop’s primary focus is to serve those who are Catholic, he is in a sense here for all of Northwest Ohio. Thomas said he was sent by Pope Francis to serve the local church — the Toledo Diocese — by caring for those who are Catholic and helping them “to get to heaven.”

But he also hopes to work with other denominations and share in the task of spreading the Gospel.

“For everyone else, [the bishop is] charged to proclaim the Gospel and be the face of Christ,” Thomas said. “My outreach is to every single person. The reality is my task is to treat them all as Christ would treat them.”

As for now, he said he’s excited to have a busy schedule, meet as many people as he can, learn the area and eventually enjoy some of the local sights, including Tony Packo’s, where he has already been asked to sign a hot dog bun.

“The best advice I was given when I came to Toledo was ‘Just be yourself,’” Thomas said. “Be the person God intended you to be.”

The threat of the Ebola virus hit close to home this month after an infected nurse in Dallas boarded a plane to Cleveland. So far, no one in Ohio has been infected with the disease, but local and state agencies are preparing themselves for the possibility.

Statewide, there are 164 people who came in contact with an infected person and are being monitored until Nov. 4, the last day of the 21-day period in which a person can come down with the virus after being exposed, said Dr. Mary DiOrio, the state epidemiologist with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). At least three people are under quarantine.

DiOrio was part of a conference call with reporters Oct. 22 that gave a status report on Ohio’s Ebola response one week after the Ebola threat in the Cleveland/Akron area. Also on the call were Dr. Christopher Braden, the Ohio lead of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Richard Hodges, director of the ODH; and Michael Abrams, president and CEO of Ohio Hospital Association (OHA).

“This is significant in Ohio because we’ve never had to deal with Ebola, but we do have experience. We just had a measles outbreak recently,” DiOrio said. “We have protocols. We began our Ebola preparations over the summer and were quickly able to implement a response with state and local agencies.”

Braden told reporters that the state’s reponse to Ebola is in good shape but not yet “out of the woods” a week after the threat.

“When we first came (to Ohio) it was obvious that the rapid and aggressive response was started and well under way,” Braden said. “When we reflect back on a week of very hard work as an assessment, we are in a very good place. We have some time before we are out of the woods [but] we are at a place in the reponse where we can take a deep breath and reflect on the week to go forward.”

Federal authorities said Oct. 22 that everyone traveling into the U.S. from Ebola-stricken nations will be monitored for symptoms for 21 days. That includes returning American aid workers, federal health employees and journalists, as well as West African travelers.

Dallas nurse Amber Vinson was part of a team that treated Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, who contracted the disease in Liberia before coming to the United States. Duncan died Oct. 8, eight days after diagnosis. Nurse Nina Pham contracted Ebola while caring for Duncan after he was admitted but before he was diagnosed. Vinson, the second nurse to be infected, boarded a plane from Dallas to Cleveland on Oct. 10. She had been monitoring herself for symptoms, but was not restricted from traveling because she was not a risk according to CDC guidelines. The condition of both nurses has improved, and Vinson recently tested negative for the virus.

Toledo response

In Toledo, the Lucas County Health Department has taken the lead on the area’s response to a potential Ebola outbreak and has been holding meetings and discussions with first responders, local hospitals and others, including the Lucas County Emergency Management Agency, the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office, the Toledo Express Airport, the Ohio Air National Guard and the mayor’s office.

“The situation that happened in the Cleveland/Akron area got us thinking it could be something we could be faced with. It’s always better to be prepared,” said Samantha Eitniear, Lucas County community response coordinator.

Stephen Arnold, Toledo Express Airport manager, said his agency is following the lead of the county and the Transportation Security Administration. The likelihood  of Ebola arriving in Toledo from Africa by plane is small, because most international travelers are checked at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago before arriving in Toledo, he said. But if someone were to be suspected of infection, the 180th Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard would be the first responders. A guardsman would don protective gear and board the plane to question the person further.

“Everyone is standing back and taking a good look at this thing. We’re in the right position to handle this,” Arnold said. “We feel confident around here because there’s been so much discussion (of procedure) so we’re probably in better shape than Cleveland or Dallas. People here are taking notice of what could happen.”

ProMedica was “ahead of the game” and began Ebola preparations this past summer, said Brian Biggie, a nurse and ProMedica’s system coordinator for disaster preparedness.

“Aug. 2, our system brought together a small functioning team to work on our Ebola response plan before it had hit the United States,” Biggie said. “We take these things very seriously.”

However, when Duncan became the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States and Vinson flew to Cleveland, the “landscape” changed dramatically in Ohio, he said.

To be prepared here, the ProMedica team has conducted drills, established routes of communication and practiced patient management.

The ODH and the OHA have both required hospitals to hold drills and the CDC has released new guidelines on how to “don and duff” personal protective equipment (PPE). ProMedica has adopted those requirements.

“We have confidence in our PPE stance,” Biggie said. “We’re reacting as quickly as we can to every changing disease process. It’s a moving target.”

The ODH requested emergency funding from the state, which allocated $800,000 for protective gear to send to any area of the state that may have an outbreak, said Bill Teets, spokesman for Ohio’s Emergency Operations Center.

“Most health care providers have some supply of PPEs on hand because they’re used in a variety of situations,” Teets said. “But because of a large number of PPE required for an Ebola patient, we would go through supplies pretty quickly. So we have them ready and available.”

The Ebola virus, which is found in several African countries, was first identified in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The 2014 Ebola outbreak is the largest Ebola outbreak in history, according to the CDC’s website.

Ebola spreads from direct contact with body fluids of an infected person. Symptoms appear within 21 days of exposure. People exposed are not contagious unless they have symptoms of the virus, which include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pains or unexplained bleeding or bruising. Ebola does not spread through water or food, except for infected bushmeat.

For more information, go to www.odh.ohio.gov, www.cdc.gov or call the CDC at (800) 232-4636.