Foundation Honors Woman By Helping Others Affected By Brain Aneurysms
By Kathy Walsh
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) - A Colorado family has started a foundation to honor 38-year-old Jamie Beck. The wife and mother from Highlands Ranch died when aneurysms ruptured in her brain.
Now, her family is trying to turn their heartache into helping others.
"I still think about her everyday. We miss her," said Devin Beck, blinking back tears as he talked about his late wife, Jamie.
He called her smart and determined, his partner and a wonderful mother to their children, Chloe and Wyatt. In February 2015, they lost her.
"She never had a chance," said Devin.
Jamie was driving home in rush hour traffic, south on Interstate 25. She grazed a car and hit the center barrier. Devin raced to the hospital where she was dying.
"All I could do was grab her hand," he said. There was probably fifteen doctors and nurses in the room trying to save her, but that was it. She was gone just like that.
Jamie had no history of migraines or headaches but Devin says, on that day, two aneurysms, bulges on blood vessels, burst in Jamie's brain.
"We're getting through. It's not better, it's more bearable," said Devin.
Launching the Jamie Beck Family Foundation has helped. It aids patients and families from UCHealth's Stroke and Brain Aneurysm Center.
"They've been really amazing about being able to provide some financial and even emotional support," said Dr. Joshua Seinfeld, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Endovascular Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Hospital.
It's a way for the Beck children to honor their mother.
"They never forget. They miss her," said Devin. "I taught them to look in the sky at the brightest stars and that was her watching them. I think we're making her proud."
LINK: jamiebeckfoundation.org
The Jamie Beck Family Foundation TopGolf Event will be held in Centennial on September 10, 2017 starting at 3:00 p.m. This annual event raises public awareness of brain aneurysms and financially supports patients and families impacted by them.
Kathy Walsh is CBS4's Weekend Anchor and Health Specialist. She has been with CBS4 for more than 30 years. She is always open to story ideas. Follow Kathy on Twitter @WalshCBS4.
