When Emma Pfau walks into Yale New Haven Health's Smilow Cancer Hospital, she says she feels both sadness and hope.
That's because Pfau's father, Scott Walls, received cancer treatment there. He passed away in 2002. Walls worked as a physician's assistant at what is now Yale New Haven Hospital's Saint Raphael Campus.
“He had an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma," Emma Pfau said. “He first battled cancer when he was in college, and I think that really shaped his perspective and outlook on life. He then was diagnosed again after he and my mom got married.”
Despite undergoing chemotherapy treatments, her parents got pregnant.
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“It was three months before I was born, so I never got to meet my dad," she said.
Now, Pfau is gearing up for her 6th year of honoring her dad in a special way. Come September 7, she will bike 100 miles in the Closer to Free Ride with her mom, Kelly, by her side. The ride, in its 14th year, raises money for research and care at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center.
She said she first got the itch to participate in Closer to Free back in the 8th grade. Since that day, it's changed her life.
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"I remember watching the Closer to Free riders come through our town and I was just like, that’s something I gotta do," Pfau said. "The direct impact that it has on patients, the stories of hope and courage, and the people that I met, I knew I wanted to be involved in cancer patient care.”
Pfau went to nursing school and is now a licensed RN. She's starting her career in oncology this month. Where else but Yale.
“I’ll be working at the same hospital where [my dad] was cared for and so that’s really special. Yale and Smilow have always had a special place in my heart," Pfau said.
She said this year's Closer to Free is gearing up to be that much more meaningful.
“I’m really excited about the fact that I will start working before the Closer to Free ride, so I think this year will be even cooler because I’ll have already started in direct patient care with the patients that I’m gonna be riding for,” she said. “It’s so much more than just a ride, it’s really a community and a family, just such a privilege to be a part of.”
