Nicole C. Fisher, nurse manager at CHOP and tireless volunteer, has died at 42

Nicole C. Fisher, 42, formerly of Philadelphia, registered nurse, nurse manager, tireless volunteer, and mother of four, died Sunday, Feb. 26, of complications from sickle cell anemia at Chestnut Hill Hospital.

Mrs. Fisher was adopted by Richard and Mary Price in 1982 and spent her life, her husband said, “paying it forward.” She attained her dream job as a nurse at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2004, and, knowing how it is to have been helped, constantly reached out to everyone she could.

“She wanted to be a blessing to somebody else,” said her husband, Adarrel Fisher, “especially those who may be forgotten or abandoned. She had a sense of someone who had been helped.”

Mrs. Fisher worked at first at the University of California Los Angeles Mattel Children’s Hospital. She returned to Philadelphia after she met Fisher, became a nurse and then nurse manager at CHOP, and served most recently in the hospital’s pulmonary unit.

Caring for her patients seemed more like a calling than a job for Mrs. Fisher. Creative, friendly, and talkative once she got to know you, she focused on people’s emotional health as well as the medicine they took.

She sought young people in distress, especially those like her, who struggled with sickle cell anemia, and showed them how to plan for a fulfilling future. When one of her patients at CHOP was forced to spend her prom night in the hospital, Mrs. Fisher and other staff threw a party in her room so the memorable event would not go unmarked.

“She brought the power of love into someone’s life,” her husband said. “She made them feel wanted. And when things didn’t go well, it broke her heart.”

As a volunteer, Mrs. Fisher served at Chestnut Hill Hospital as a teen and with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles as an adult. She joined a holding babies program through Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church and was part of the usher’s ministry at St. Phillips Baptist Church.

One friend called Mrs. Fisher the “sweetest, funniest, smartest nurse I know” in a Facebook tribute. She added: “Never met a woman with more focus and understanding of life.” Another friend called her “a beautiful and amazing person.”

Nicole Cheryl Price was born Oct. 31, 1980, in Philadelphia. She was an exceptional student at Philadelphia High School for Girls and earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002.

She met her husband in Los Angeles when he was on a business trip and impressed him so much that he returned just two weeks later for a personal visit. They married in 2009 and had sons Isaiah and Isaac, and adopted daughters Nya and Ayla.

“In our hearts and minds, she will always be the sweet spirit that we knew in college,” her friends at the Black Alumni of Penn’s Class of 2002 said in an online tribute.

She was a doting mother who taught arts and crafts to her children and covered her Facebook page with family photos. They lived in Northeast Philadelphia, Mount Airy, and most recently in Glenside.

“She had a love for people, for children,” her husband said. “She had a calming spirit about her.”

Mrs. Fisher liked to dance and be silly, and she loved karaoke. She was a foodie who watched cooking shows and, while not adept at gardening, marveled at flowers because “she saw beauty in all of God’s creations,” her husband said

She enjoyed traveling, especially her annual Mother’s Day weekend getaway with friends. She was active at church, interested in history, and took photographs constantly. “She always said it was important to keep memories,” her husband said.

When they got married, he wrote a tribute about their love called “If My Princess Only Knew.” He recently wrote another piece and titled it “If My Queen Only Knew.”

“If only my queen knew how we all miss her, how so many things remind us of her, and how much we all still love her,” he wrote. “If only my queen knew that I am looking forward to one day being reunited for forever with you.”

In addition to her husband, children, and mother, Mrs. Fisher is survived by two brothers and other relatives.

A celebration of her life was held Saturday, March 4.

Donations in her name may be made to the Cure Sickle Cell Walk & Family Fun Day, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation, P.O. Box 781352, Philadelphia, Pa. 19178.