Humans of New Yorkhas told the stories of over 5,000 people. It is one of the most popular storytelling channels on social media, and on Thursday, the account featured one of our very own. Ashley Evanson is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the author-illustrator of the Hello, World! board book series. Her incredible story wasliked on Instagram by over 425,000 people as of Friday afternoon.
“Halfway home I asked to stop for a drink. Then afterward I hopped in the backseat to read a book to my brother. And... Posted by Humans of New York on Thursday, January 21, 2021
Evanson told the story of the car accident that claimed her father’s life. Of him she said, “His name was Kash. He was an Olympic-caliber skier. He flew jets in the Air Force. But oh man, he was such a good dad. Whenever I asked to name my best friend—I’d say my dad.”
As a result of the accident, Evanson, a talented pianist, lost the use of her left hand. She went through surgery after surgery seeking healing until finally, doctors said, “Your hand is dying, and the only thing left to try is a bone transplant.” It was at this point that Evanson’s mother remembered that although nearly every other part of Evanson’s father’s body had been donated to bless the lives of people in need, her mom had asked that some bone be set aside. His bone was able to be grafted into his daughter’s hand—and it came back to life.
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Evanson now plays the piano with her four children and in church. “And even though we have a shoebox of a house, we have a piano. In our living room we keep a photo album of my dad. We talk about him all the time: what he did, who he was. I hate that he never got to meet my kids, but they know him,” Evanson wrote. “They call him ‘Papa Kash.’ And we know Papa Kash is somewhere else right now. But he’s also very alive in this house.”
Read Evanson’s full post here.
