A 2014 crash changed Emily Brong’s life, creating a long and winding road filled with many twists and turns.

Thursday was a chance to turn the tables to surprise the woman she credits with helping her regain her independence.

Tamie Sturgis has been Brong’s nurse for the past 11 years, and Brong and her family hosted a lunch for her at the BAYADA Lehigh Valley Skilled Nursing office in Bethlehem during National Nurses Week.

“I was humbled and shocked; I did not know I was receiving this (Compassion and Action) award from BAYADA, especially for something I do every day,” said Sturgis, an LPN at BAYADA Home Health in Bethlehem. “I don’t look for any reward; my reward is Emily.”

Brong, of Palmerton, said the surprise lunch was to let Sturgis know how much she’s meant to her.

“It made me feel amazing, truly amazing,” Brong said. “Without her, I don’t know where I would be.”

Sturgis said she and Brong have since developed a “very special bond” over the years.

“I started one day a week, graduated to two, three and now full time (50-60 hours a week, mostly 10-hour shifts),” she said. “I’ve seen Emily’s progress, and it’s awesome to see.”

Sturgis said that progress includes seeing Brong when she had a G-tube and was eating pureed food and drinking out of a Provale cup, which only allowed her 5 to 10 cc of fluid at a time.

Brong lost her G-tube, got off the pureed food, and graduated to solid foods to the point where she can eat and drink anything she wants.

“She used to sit in a recliner all the time,” Sturgis noted. “I’m very outgoing person; I think I helped make Emily outgoing.”

Sturgis added, “She’s a very kind person, she loves socializing.

“She is someone who does not sit there and go ‘whoa is me’, never did she ever complain that she’s in a wheelchair. She’s grateful to be alive, and thankful to have all her families and friends around her, people she knows she never would have met prior.”

Sturgis said that Brong does therapy.

“Our goal is for her to work with one assist (person); we’re working on that,” she said. “We’ve got to get her strong to do that.”

Currently, Brong works at Leiby’s Ice Cream House in South Tamaqua, where she is the hostess.

“This job helps her speech, (which) has improved so much, especially with this job,” she said. “She has improved immensely.

“And it’s awesome to see the progress. She brings a smile to (their) face.”

Brong said “it means the world” for her to be able to work at Leiby’s.

Among the milestones Sturgis attended on Brong’s behalf were when Brong threw the first pitch at an IronPigs game, at the Pennsylvania State House advocating for home care, and the one cheering from the sidelines while Brong seats customers at her job at Leiby’s.

Sturgis, who also received an award from Hearts for Home Care on Thursday for Nurses Week, and who will also receive an award recognizing Excellence in Health Care, Health Care Hero, has been in the health care field for about 40 years, including the past 20 years as an LPN.

To Brong, Sturgis has been more than a clinician; she’s been her partner in progress for over 50 hours a week.

“No matter what we go through, I know she’ll always be there for me,” Brong said.