First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchAlmost 19,000 babies are born prematurely in Ohio each year and the numbers are increasing. Riley Potter was delivered by Caesarean section after he stopped growing in his mother's womb. He weighed slightly more than a pound when he was born almost four months premature. Dr. Christopher Timan checks Riley's heartbeat after his arrival at Columbus Children's Hospital's intensive care unit. Riley was delivered at a local hospital to first time mother Beth Potter and rushed to Columbus Children's Hospital Neonatal Care Unit.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchBeth can only look through a porthole in Riley's incubator during a visit to Children's Hospital in early May. She would not get to feed him or hold him for several more months.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchSheltered in an incubator that regulates his body temperature and shelters him from infection, Riley is dwarfed by medical equipment that keeps him alive . Riley's father, John Henry stopped in alone after work, but the parents will not be able to touch Riley for months.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchRiley is out of his incubator briefly before heading to laser eye surgery that must performed now or risk blindness. Beth and John prepare themselves for the procedure that could be dangerous.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchA team of nurses and technicians race Riley to an operating room for laser surgery on his eyes. The general anaesthetic is a health risk to his fragile system and he must be off supplemental oxygen during the procedure.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchIn an underlit operating room, Dr. Rick Golden will make about 1000 laser cuts on each of Riley's eyes to treat for retinopathy of prematurity. He must cut the abnormal blood vessels that grow and spread throughout the retina.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchBeth holds up a beaker of breast milk that is delivered to Riley by a tube directly into his stomach while John holds him for the first time. Riley has grown enough to be out of his incubator but still must be fed by IV and is still on a respirator that breathes for him.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchVisiting the hospital by himself, John learns that Riley is breathing well enough to be taken off the ventilator and will be able to breathe for himself and cry for the first time. John holds a telephone up for Beth who had to stay home.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch John looks over a list of cards that set goals for Riley to meet before he can leave Children's Hospital and go home while Beth feeds him a bottle for the first time.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchBecause Riley was confined to an incubator for so long and was too sick to move on his own he has not developed normally and will need physical therapy to correct atrophied muscles. John is working with a therapist at the hospital to learn the exercises Riley will need to do at home.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchRiley's respiratory therapist opens the car door for Beth and Riley while John struggles with Riley's portable oxygen tank as they leave Nationwide Children's Hospital. Riley will need to be on a 24 hour monitor and receive supplemental oxygen at home.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchAfter having spent all night at the hospital with Riley, learning more about what he would need to keep him healthy at home and getting little sleep, Beth stares and worries about the future.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerOn March 5, 2007, Johanna Orozco was shot in the face by her obsessed ex-boyfriend Juan Ruiz. The blast shattered the lower part of her face, leaving a puzzle of pieces to be put back together. As she sleeps in her hospital bed this past spring, Johanna Orozco tosses and moans. The disturbing dreams that invade the 18-year-old's sleep are part of the journey of mental healing she faces as doctors work to repair her face, damaged from a shotgun blast.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerWhile waiting days for her surgery, Johanna never loses her sense of humor as she jokes with friends on a Friday night at MetroHealth.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerOn the morning of her surgery, Johanna is asked by Dr. Michael Fritz is she's scared. She motions with her thumb and index finger, a little bit.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerDr. Michael Fritz applies a tourniquet to cut off blood supply to the leg in which skin and bone will be removed and sewn to create Johanna's new jaw at MetroHealth.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerAn exhausted Johanna is supported by her grandmother, Juanita Orozco, after finishing her physical therapy session.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerJohanna gets a kiss from her grandfather, Wosbely, while waiting for Dr. Michael Fritz to come by to discharge her.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer Johanna flops onto her new bed, relieved when she gets to her Aunt Hilda Hernandez's house, where she decided to stay. She doesn't want to return to the house where she was shot.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerJohanna Orozco dresses for prom. A portrait of her mother hangs on her wall.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerJohanna dances with prom king Zlatko Zlatanov after the two were named prom king and queen at the Lincoln West prom.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerJuan Ruiz wipes away tears before pleading guilty to all charges of rape and attempted aggravated murder in the shooting of his former girlfriend, Johanna Orozco.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerJohanna Orozco waits to hear from the defense attorney whether they will plead out in Juan Ruiz's trial.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerJohanna raises her arms in relief as she leaves the Justice Center after ex boyfriend Juan Ruiz pled guilty to all charges.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus Dispatch
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchOn August 22, 2006, a few days before the start of her senior year at Thomas Worthington High School, Rachel Barezinsky, 18, was shot in the head and shoulder. At her 18th birthday party in March, Rachel Barezinsky's head is still misshapen from where surgeons removed part of her skull to relieve pressure. With her at the party are Petra Daitz and Tessa Acker.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchRachel's friends have been ever-present since the shooting. At her party, the group watched a video that her girlfriends had made of "the good days" before the shooting -- Rachel smiling in her Thomas Worthington cheerleading outfit and posing at the beach like a swimsuit model during a Florida vacation. Rachel's stepmother, Drue Barezinsky, passed a roll of toilet paper around the room. "You know it's really bad when the movie is over and you're still crying," she said.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchSpecial-education aide Heather Miller helped Rachel return to Thomas Worthington High School in mid-December. Rachel was primarily using a wheelchair until May.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchRachel pushes herself to strengthen her left leg by doing leg lifts during physical therapy. For the seven months until her skull was repaired, she wore a helmet virtually all the time.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchRachel with her father Greg Barezinsky and stepmother Drue Barezinsky before going to bed. "I pray for Allen Davis, that he will get better and realize what he did is wrong," Rachel said. "I would forgive him if he said, 'Sorry,' but he hasn't done that."
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchA CAT scan shows the part of the skull that was removed to allow Rachel's brain to swell after the shooting. Seven months later, Rachel went into surgery to replace the missing piece.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchDr. E. Antonio Chiocca replaces the missing piece of Rachel's skull at Ohio State University Medical Center. "She suffered what is usually a fatal injury," said Chiocca, the OSU surgeon. "It's a miracle she survived."
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchRachel screamed "Ewww" when she first saw herself after surgeons at Ohio State University Medical Center repaired her skull. Disoriented from the anesthesia, she stared at herself for several minutes before changing her mind. "Wait a minute," she said, "it's round!"
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchA Thomas Worthington cheerleader, Rachel had been training to do a back flip. But she was shot three days before school started. Now she has problems with her short-term memory, so she marks off the days on a calendar in her bedroom to keep track. "It's like part of my life has been erased," Rachel said. "No matter how hard I try to remember, it's all an empty void."
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchAfter two operations and months of therapy, she was able to dance at her senior prom with her date, Luke Sheldon. Luke, a longtime friend of Rachel's, held her cane.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchRachel Barezinsky celebrates on graduation day with classmates. As senior year approached, Rachel dreamed about getting her high-school diploma, going off to college and starting a new, exciting life. Rachel participated in commencement and had more than enough credits to be done with high school, but she agreed with her family that she would not graduate, to remain eligible for special-education classes.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchRachel lines up for commencement with fellow Thomas Worthington High School seniors, from left, Benjamin Bacon, Jihyun Bang, Patrick Barren, and Elizabeth Barnette. For Rachel, the Thomas Worthington commencement was a victory over the bullet in her brain. "I made it through high school," she declared. "And I'm ALIVE!"
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain Dealer
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerSue Johnson works for the Visiting Nurse Association's Bridge Program, taking care of uninsured psychiatric patients from the time they leave the hospital until they see a community-care psychiatrist for the first time. Her job takes her all over the county, including the housing projects and subsidized apartments, the homeless shelters and flophouses. Sue Johnson urges Jacquelyn Hawkins to take her medications for schizophrenia. Hawkins continued to take them for a few weeks, but on Johnson's' last visit said, "I'm too sane to take crazy medicine!"
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerVisiting nurse Sue Johnson, right, takes the blood pressure of her client Joann Whitt. Whitt, who was involuntarily committed to the state psychiatric hospital, was taken from her home naked, without her dentures and other personal possessions. She now lives in a Cleveland group home.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerSue Johnson fills a pill box, one of the services she provides as a psychiatric nurse.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerVisiting nurse Sue Johnson counsels Bridget, a mental health client, in Bridget's suburban home. Bridget was hospitalized soon after this visit after relapsing into drug abuse.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerVisiting nurse and reggae fan Sue Johnson logs many miles driving the county and caring for mentally ill patients in the Visiting Nurse Association Psychiatric Bridge Program. Hanging from her rear view mirror are gifts from former patients.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerPsychiatric Bridge program nurse Sue Johnson checks patient Ethan's bullet wounds during a visit to his Cleveland home.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerVisiting nurse Sue Johnson calls to mental health client Jacquelyn Hawkins who rents a room in the basement. This was Sue's last visit during which Jacquelyn announced she needed no more medications.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain Dealer Jacquelyn Hawkins laughs at the red hairpiece visiting nurse Sue Johnson brought her on their last appointment, one of a dozen donated by a colleague. Hawkins had stopped taking her medications and started drinking. ìI wouldn't wear this to a dog fight!î Hawkins said several times.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerVisiting nurse Sue Johnson pauses outside Jacquelyn Hawkins' home after her last visit during which Jacquelyn refused to continue medications prescribed to manage her mental illness.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerSue Johnson talks with client JoAnn Whitt while JoAnn eats lunch in the group home she lives in since leaving a psychiatric hospital. Sue rescued Joann's wedding picture, right, which Joann feared was lost with other personal belongings including her dentures and cane.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Chris Stephens / The Plain DealerMental health visiting nurse Sue Johnson, helps her client Joann Whitt who is schizophrenic and legally blind, to the car for a trip to the nursing home to visit Joann's husband.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerActors float across the stage during the opening scene of Act I at the dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker at the Stocker Arts Center. This is the Ohio Dance Theater's 16th annual Nutcracker performed under the direction of Denise Gula. Gula's dedication to the dance theater has kept it alive through a poor local economy and limited donations. "The last two years have been a tremendous struggle," Gula said. "It falls on our shoulders as artists to do everything we can to keep it in front of a new audience."
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer Masks for the Mouse King and the Nutcracker wait backstage during dress rehearsal for the "Nutcracker".
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer Juliana Freude, 22, prepares her feet for her ballet slippers during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer "This is my little angel," says Rick Kenney as he pins gold wings onto his daughter Hallie's angel costume. Kenney is helping out with final touches just before she goes onstage during dress rehearsal practice for Ohio Dance Theater's "Nutcracker". In minutes, seven-year-old Hallie would be floating across the stage through smoke and deep blue lights, a vision of celestial perfection, dancing in her very first Nutcracker ballet.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer Ballerinas are anything but delicate as Jennifer Hogue demonstrates as she clowns around in the wings during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerJuliana Freude, 22, performs as the Columbine Doll in the party scene during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer Janet Strukely, 24, waits for her cue to dance the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer Janet Strukely, 24, dances the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer From left, Christina Wiley, 14, of Avon Lake, Kasha Hilton, 15, of Oberlin and Breanna Wisnor, 16, of Norwalk, help each other with their quick changes for the next scene which they play "snow' during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerA ballerina waits in the wings for her cue for the snow scene during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer Ballerinas waits in the wings during dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBallerinas float across the stage during the snow scene at dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Tim Johnson / Suburban News Publications
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Tim Johnson / Suburban News PublicationsEdison Elementary students have a morning of historic school lessons in the one-room school house at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus. Sunlight catches the intent gaze of Natalie Webb as she works on a class assignment in the 1860s schoolhouse at the Ohio Historical Society where Edison Intermediate-Middle School fifth-graders had lessons.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Tim Johnson / Suburban News PublicationsEdison Intermediate-Middle School fifth-graders spent Friday in a one-room schoolhouse at the Ohio Historical Society learning about early American life.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Tim Johnson / Suburban News PublicationsEllie MacLeod makes her way around classmates to hand out supplies.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Tim Johnson / Suburban News PublicationsVolunteer teacher Terry Siemer looks for errors in a copy of the Declaration of Independence while teaching the importance of handwriting to students.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Tim Johnson / Suburban News PublicationsA student practices her handwriting skills using chalk to draw circles on a slate writing board.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Tim Johnson / Suburban News PublicationsAlex York raises his hand to answer a question underneath one of the chalk boards in the one-room schoolhouse.
