CLEVELAND — When you're searching for inspiration, sometimes, it shows up in the most unexpected ways.
"I remember it like it was yesterday," Amanda Spicer, Cleveland Clinic nurse manager, says. "I recognized right away that Courteney was not only somebody medically fragile, but very special."
That's how Spicer and fellow nurse Courteney Belmonte felt when they met 21-year-old Courteney Boyle and her parents, Dan and Christine.
"She was so sick," Belmonte remembered. "We were managing all of these things, but it was still lighthearted. Like, 'We're happy to meet you.'"
"From the jump, when they came in, it wasn't, 'This is Courteney, my sick child.' [It was] 'This is Courteney, my daughter, and this is where we have been and this is where we are. And how can we explain to you her medical condition and how can we move forward as partners?'" Spicer added. "I never felt like she was just a patient. No, she was ... she was Courteney."
It’s how Christine Boyle honored her daughter since she was born.
"I mean, her whole 21 years of life, she was always such a fighter," Christine said. "I would say, though, her life was so incredible."
She did big things, like raising $35,000 for the disability community in nearly 100 races with her dad, and she helped to change the policy of the Disney Princess Run.
When she couldn't go to her annual Disney Princess half marathon in 2022, the nurses from floor M30 went above and beyond for her.
"We've got to do something for this race, because we knew in our hearts that she was not going to be able to attend."
So, after some planning and dedication from the entire nursing floor, they brought the race to Courteney. One by one, each nurse ran a leg of the 13.1 mile race, recording video messages with words of support along the way.
And they didn't stop at 13 — they did 15, because so many of them love Courteney. Some brought their kids, others brought their pets, and all brought their caring hearts.
They led Courteney to the finish line of the most important race of her life.
"It's a precious moment," Spicer told us, "and the family allowed us to share in that, to come and say our goodbye."
Courteney died days after the nurses showed the Boyle family the video of them running.
"We know that this journey that the Lord has put us on [made us] handpicked to be her parents," Christine said. "We loved every second of it. We miss it so much. Even the hard things we miss so much."
To thank the nurses of M30 for their kindness, the Boyles got an assist from Disney.
"We got to get together with them on the floor and just presented them with medals for running, as well," Dan explained.
That wasn't all — the group received the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Caregiver Empathy Award for their act of kindness, presented by CEO Tom Mihaljevic himself.
"It was remarkable," Spicer said.
Yet, it was Courteney and the Boyles who blessed the nurses of M30 the most.
"Not to be afraid to keep moving and to take on new challenges, and to know that it's going to be rough," Spicer shared, "but as long as you have a team around you — which is what she had, Team Boyle — you can do anything."
"It wasn't just one person connected with them," Belmonte said of the Boyles. "It was an entire unit full of nurses that cared so deeply about them."
Today, Dan and Christine continue to honor Courteney by keeping up with running, only this time, her brother Kevin is carrying the torch — powered, of course, by their gratitude for M30.
"It really just comes down to when you're walking through the hardest thing you'll ever walk through, to feel loved and cared for and supported, there's really no greater gift you can have," Christine said.
To learn more about Team Boyle, click HERE.