NPR proclaims Catholic sister as ‘My Unsung Hero’ for defending teen stroke patient

A Catholic sister was featured July 15 as NPR’s “My Unsung Hero” after a woman recalled how the sister came to her defense more than four decades ago, when hospital staff dismissed her stroke as drug use.

NPR’s “My Unsung Hero” series shares stories of people whose actions made a lasting difference in the lives of others.

Sister Maura Smith, principal of the Catholic high school attended by then-18-year-old Solitaire Miles, received the recognition after Miles shared how the sister’s intervention changed the way hospital staff treated her, saying she became a “patient instead of a suspect.”

"Sister Maura cared deeply about her students,” Miles said, “but I was only one student out of hundreds in my class, so when she walked into that ICU room, I was really surprised to see her there."

After Miles suffered a stroke in 1985 that left her in a coma for nearly three days, doctors repeatedly suspected that she had used drugs, even ordering a toxicology screening that ultimately came back clean, according to NPR.

Amid continued questioning, Sister Maura, who Miles described as a “big woman” arrived and immediately intervened.

“She had a deep, commanding voice and a very strong presence," Miles said. "And once she walked into my hospital room and took a look at the situation, she started yelling."

Miles recalled Sister Maura confronting the neurologist who had ordered the toxicology screening, with the doctor backed against a wall as she “grabbed his white coat collar in her hands and made it really clear that her student wouldn’t be abused under her watch.”

According to NPR, Sister Maura then quietly sat beside Miles, smiled, took out a rosary, and began to pray.

Miles said the confrontation immediately changed the tone of her care, with the doctor and hospital staff treating her “with more respect,” according to the outlet.

 "Sister Maura walked in the path of compassion and righteousness — not through words, but through action,” Miles said. “She showed up, she spoke up and she stayed ... and because she stayed, I lived, and that is the story of my unsung hero."