Ashley Kern always knew caring for others was what she was destined to do.
“I’ve always wanted to be a nurse. I couldn’t see myself doing anything other than nursing,” she says.
While Ashley always dreamed of a career in nursing, a tragic incident left her with a life-changing injury that altered the trajectory of her future.
“I was at a house party with my friends, and we had only been there about 20 minutes, and we decided to leave. I remember walking down the front steps of the house and I started to run- I heard gunshots. I woke up and I was on the ground, and I didn’t really know what happened in that exact moment, but I knew something was really wrong. It’s hard to look back and relive that,” Ashley says. She was 17 when she was struck by gunfire from a drive-by shooting that left her paralyzed from the chest down.
The months following the shooting and her high school graduation were difficult for Ashley, who felt that her dream of being a nurse was becoming unreachable. She remembers thinking she would never have a job again and feeling there was no life for her beyond what happened.
As Ashley watched her former high school classmates move on to college and build their careers, she couldn’t help but feel “sidelined.” Each day began with a sense of defeat, until one day, she decided it was time for that to change. She made a choice to stop waking up feeling defeated and instead rise with purpose. In 2021, Ashley and her twin sister Alexandria, who shared her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse, enrolled together at Trocaire College and were determined to turn their dream into reality.
When asked about pursuing a career in nursing together, Ashley and Alexandria say they knew it was something they needed to do. Ashley credits having her sister with her at Trocaire College for helping her make it through to graduation. “It was fun, to have someone and be together all the time and go through all the hard moments together, and then the good moments, and then finishing school and going across the stage. There is a time where it could have so easily been us not being together the night of my injury. I thank God that I’m still here with my sister and that we get to live out some of the things we’ve always talked about.”
Reflecting on her time as a patient also played a factor in Ashley’s decision to pursue nursing again. She joined her sister as a nurse in the ICU at in December 2024. Alexandria joined the team there in March, earlier that year.
“I think at first if you just mention somebody wants to be an ICU nurse and they’re in a wheelchair, it’s kind of, ‘how could that work?’ is the first question, and from Catholic Health’s perspective, we looked at it more as let’s be the ones to help her make it work. What an incredible opportunity and win-win because we’ve seen and Ashley has shared with me before how other nurses in wheelchairs have struggled to get positions in the field they wanted to. So, the fact she wanted to work at Catholic Health in intensive care, and we were able to hire her here is really incredible to see her in action everyday,” said Michelle Wild, Director of Nursing and Patient Care Services at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo.
Her team sees Ashley as a pioneer, learning clinical tasks in innovative ways while also teaching others alternative methods. Navigating the ICU wasn’t easy at first, especially since traditional care practices weren’t designed with nurses in wheelchairs in mind, but Ashley confronts each challenge with determination.
“To begin, it definitely was hard because you’re coming out of school, but you don’t have too much hands-on experience. So not only are you learning what everything is, but you’re also learning how to be a nurse and find your way. Then with this injury as well, trying to modify that, incorporate it into my practice has been another tough situation but I have such a passion for nursing. I can’t help but try as hard as I can, and I will just do that for as long as I can. That’s why I love it here,” she said.
When asked why she chose to work in critical care and where she’d like her career to take her, Ashley says she found her place among the ICU team at Mercy Hospital. “I love critical care and the ICU setting, so I would love to stay here as long as I could. Of course, I’ve thought about getting my master’s degree, but I’m very happy and content here.”
She becomes emotional when she thinks about her coworkers and the ways they helped her dream of being a nurse come true. “It’s everything about the floor- the knowledge, the pace, the teamwork, the support. Everyone comes together and you make it work no matter what. You’re never alone and to have the support from my coworkers and everyone around me, they made my dream come true and they allowed me to live my passion out and I can’t be more grateful for that, to have someone believe in you that much and give you the chance.”
Ashley isn’t just an inspiration to her fellow nurses; she also has deep, meaningful connections with her patients. She recalls one unforgettable encounter with a patient who was paralyzed from the neck down. The moment she came into his room, he told her that just seeing her had changed his life. That moment has stayed with her ever since.
Recently, Ashley and her sister were invited to appear on The Jennifer Hudson Show, where they shared the story of Ashley’s injury and their remarkable journey. “I didn’t think we would make it,” Ashley said, “but that was our dream and it’s an incredible feeling to say you’re living your dream.”
