Hospital dedicates memorial garden for tornado victims

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Kendall Downing

HARRISBURG, Ill. - Forever remembered. Harrisburg Medical Center dedicated a memorial garden Thursday afternoon to the eight victims of the February 29th tornado earlier this year.

One of those victims, 22-year-old Jaylynn Ferrell was a nurse at the hospital.

"I knew no matter what she always had my back," said Danielle Baker, a fellow nurse and friend of Jaylynn's.

For Baker, the anticipation of Thursday's dedication brings pain and heartache as she waits and remembers her friend and coworker Jaylynn.

"So many emotions at once, especially when they told me that she was gone," said Baker.

Hospital leaders got the ball rolling on the memorial garden right after the deadly twister. The project cost some $17,000 and was paid for by community donations. 

Thursday they dedicated two monuments, one to all eight victims and the other to their nurse Jaylynn.

"Sometimes it seems like it's been forever ago, and sometimes it seems like just yesterday," said Patty Ferrell, Jaylynn's mother.

Ferrell said she's touched by the hospital's tribute.

"What they had envisioned was just so much more, and it's beautiful," she said.

She hopes the garden will give families like hers a quiet place to go and give thanks.

For Danielle Baker, the memorial is a reminder of a loving friend and caregiver, who she'll remember the rest of her nursing career.

"Be that type of person and that type of nurse," said Baker.

You may remember a wing of Harrisburg Medical Center sustained structural damage in the storm. The CEO said they hope the wing will be open by this time next year.