The morning of November 1^st, 2020, Sara Hebner was getting ready to run a half marathon. Instead, a ruptured brain aneurysm took her life and she passed away on November 2^nd. Sara was a devoted mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. She loved challenging her mind and completed the NYTimes crossword puzzle almost every day. She was extremely inquisitive which often led her to solutions for almost everything, from how to make the perfect pumpkin pie to researching and ordering a part to fix her family’s refrigerator door – a part that laughably took three family members to install without her. She became passionate about running and running with her family delighted her. She completed over 15 half marathons and one full marathon, with plans to run many more.

Perhaps more than anything else, Sara was known for her quick wit, her irresistible smile, and her kind and compassionate spirit. All who knew her will remember her joy for life, her smile, and her deep and infectious laugh that could be easily picked out of a crowd. Her enthusiasm for spending a beautiful day outside with friends, or just discovering a new cocktail, was unmatched. Not a person she encountered walked away without a smile on their face. Sara’s last gift to others was to become an organ donor. She saved the lives of those she had never met.

The Sara Hebner Chair of Research was established to help raise awareness, increase funding for research about brain aneurysms, and, hopefully, one day prevent anyone else from losing their Sara. This annual grant from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation will provide at least $10,000 to a recipient for one year of research on early detection, improved treatments and technological advances that will save lives and improve the lives of patients with brain aneurysms.