Shari Bookstaff

In 2006, marine biology professor Shari Bookstaff suffered a devastating stroke following the removal of a large brain tumor. The stroke took away her ability to breathe, eat, talk, hear and move. After several weeks in the hospital during which she was fed through a tube and breathed through machines, she was transferred to a rehabilitation center an hour away from her home.

During her recovery, before she returned to her job as a marine biology professor at Skyline College, Shari wrote a book chronicling her medical journey, When Life Throws You Lemons…Make Cranberry Juice! This book reveals her high and low points as she continues to overcome this major life setback. Ultimately, it took determination, hard work, and positivity to overcome this tragedy.

Inconsistency in Shari’s treatment as a patient inspired her to refocus her career in the direction of encouraging the expression of empathy in every medical situation. To that end, Shari founded the nonprofit Lifetime of Impact and the company Impact of Empathy to help as many health professionals and students as possible instantly connect with their patients and better exhibit compassion and empathy. Lifetime of Impact’s goal is to help teach the art of always exuding empathy to medical and allied health students. The mission of Impact of Empathy is to institutionalize empathy in professional organizations.