Congratulations to Nick Clayton from SUNY Stony Brook. He is our latest winner of the NYSSRC student essay contest. Nick grew up in East Setauket on Long Island and has lived here all his life. Nick comes from a long line of respiratory therapists. His mom was a respiratory therapist for many years at a local hospital (St. Charles). His uncle is a therapist who has worked at a number of different hospitals throughout Long Island and even worked in North Carolina for a few years.

Two of his cousins are also therapists. They graduated from Stony Brook University and now work in North Carolina. According to Nick “I became interested in respiratory care after hearing many stories from my family about their experiences.” Nick was also a member of the winning Sputum Bowl team at NYDART in October.

Nick will be joining over 100 respiratory therapists from around the United States in Washington DC on March 16-17 to advocate for legislation that would give patients access to respiratory therapists outside of the hospital.

Nick will also be joined by Elena Lennon, Ron Jacobs, and Sheri Tooley, our PACT representatives from NY.

The goal of the essay contest is to mentor and foster a student to become involved in their profession and “pay it forward”.