Photo By Thomas Cieslak | Hospital Corpsman Third Class Skylar Day serves aboard Naval Health Clinic Cherry...... read more read more
A Sailor assigned to Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point continues her family’s tradition of helping others through service in the United States Navy. But instead of a hammer and nails, she sometimes wields a needle.
Inspired by her father’s legacy as a Navy Seabee, Hospital Corpsman Third Class Skylar Day serves aboard the clinic as a Laboratory Technician, checking-in patients and drawing and handling their samples.
“My father was in the Seabees as a Chief and would always tell me stories of how he helped build an orphanage, school or dock in other countries,” said the Erie, Colorado native.
Seabees are Sailors assigned to Naval Construction Battalions specializing in construction to support operational forces, disaster recovery and civic actions to improve relations with other nations.
“I wanted to help people in the same way he had helped them, but I’m not so handy with a hammer and nails,” she said. “I decided the medical field in the Navy would be more to my liking.”
Her day-to-day duties range from drawing blood from a patient and examining it for irregularities to conducting a rapid strep or flu test.
Though she and her peers’ work seems microscopic at times, their contributions support the medical readiness of MCAS Cherry Point service members and civilians and their families by providing diagnostic testing, sample analysis and early detection of health issues.
“My work is important because we [the lab staff] can catch some things before any obvious signs or symptoms appear all because of what a patient’s blood, urine or stool tests show us,” she said.
Day intends to use her experience in the Lab to prepare for a field in Genetic research and testing with a goal to earn a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology while serving at the clinic. She enjoys the atmosphere of a lab, specifically the processes and attention to detail required of a technician.
“I know genetics may sound like a weird field, but in my desire to help people, I’d like to help them to the best of my abilities,” said Day. “If there’s a possibility I can tailor make a medication for someone’s specific genes, so they won’t have to experience many, if at all, side effects, I’d gladly do so.”
| Date Taken: | 05.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.30.2025 10:08 |
| Story ID: | 499270 |
| Location: | CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | ERIE, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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