Meet our 2021 Marathon Team: Carmen Sargent
Meet Carmen! A beloved BHCHP nurse and a member of our 2021 marathon team!
Carmen Rosa Sargent, 50, calls Lamas-San Martin, Peru her hometown. She is a graduate of Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima-Perú Universidad Peruana Union. Lima-Perú and has been a beloved, tenacious nurse here at BHCHP for the last eight years. She moved to the United States and continued her nursing career in a country with a different language and culture. In her career she’s found that speaking two languages is an asset given the high number of Spanish-speaking patients. Having a nurse who speaks their language allows patients to feel comfortable telling her about their medical needs.
She started running in high school when her coach would meet them at 4am and then instruct the class to run around and outside the town. She’s running the Boston Marathon this year because she is feeling physically prepared after constantly training since the pandemic lockdown. The Marathon, she says, is a way for her to test her physcial and psychological capabilities and it’s a way for her to prove to herself that she is capable of anything she can put her mind to. When she’s not running she is listening to music, hiking, and playing cribbage.
“I want to run on behalf of my patients,” says Carmen, “It’s a way to ask them not to give up and to continue fighting. Since working at BHCHP, I see the most marginalized members of our society struggle to gain access to a health care system that is not catered to them. This includes individuals or families experiencing homelessness, on top of their chronic physical condition, psychiatric illness, and substance abuse problem. I love my work because it gives me a chance to help others and I want to make a difference; they appreciate our help and it gives them hope having a support system.”
Her daughter, husband, cousins, friends, and coworkers will be cheering for her at the finish line!