Where Does It Hurt: Stories about the importance of compassion in healthcare

The Story Collider

Story Collider, Inc.

Arts, Science, Society & Culture, Personal Journals, Performing Arts

4.4 • 824 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this week’s episode, both storytellers share stories that illustrate why empathy, kindness, and humanity are essential to healthcare.

Part 1: After feeling betrayed by the very systems meant to protect her, Karen McCaffrey chooses to become the advocate for survivors she once needed herself.

This story does include mentions of sexual assault and rape. In case you’d find them helpful, now or at any point in the future, we have some resources available on our website.

Part 2: In her twenties, Mary Cyn endures a string of gynecological problems, and the lack of compassion she encounters in medical settings motivates her into changing how medical students learn patient care.

A native New Yorker, Karen McCaffrey has a BA in Economics from SUNY Oneonta and an MBA in Finance from St. John’s University. She spent her early career managing billion-dollar institutional portfolios for TIAA and later directed global treasury operations at Columbia University. She then left the world of finance to help survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. This last mission is the investment she treasures most.

Mary Cyn is a burlesque performer, storyteller, writer, and visual artist who lives in New York City. She would like to thank her vagina for financing these things.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A science story, huh?
0:04.0	On this episode of Risk, you'll hear...
0:06.0	Me, Misha Gaiyewski, from the Story Collider, where true personal stories about science
0:12.3	help us explore just how weird, wonderful, and deeply human this world can be.
0:17.5	And me, Kevin Allison, from Risk, the show where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share.
0:24.7	This is a very special episode because we're doing it in collaboration with our dear friends, Risk.
0:31.0	Yep, this is both a story collider episode and an episode of Risk, with Misha and me co-hosting it together.
0:39.3	And right after this, we'll tell you all about it.
1:04.5	All right, folks, this episode is called Where It Harts, stories about the importance of compassion in health care.
1:08.3	And we're going to tell you just a couple of things before we hear our first story.
1:17.0	Both of the stories in today's episode were part of a show that Risk and Story Clutter hosted last year in New York at one of our go-to spots, caveat.
1:24.3	The night explored the intersection of women's health and science, and the result was as moving as it was revealing.
1:28.4	Both of the stories in this episode shine a spotlight on the gaps in our health care system, especially when it comes to how women are heard, treated, and cared for.
1:33.8	Now, later on, we'll be hearing a story from Mary Sin, who's been on risk a few times over the
1:39.6	years, but our first story comes from someone who's new to us at risk, Karen McCaffrey, the director of a sexual assault victim services program in Suffolk County, New York.
1:52.7	And we should warn you that this story does include descriptions of sexual assault and rape. So please take care while listening and feel free to pause or skip ahead
2:02.3	if you need to. So here's Karen now with a story we call more than survival.
2:15.3	I spent five years as the director of the sexual assault forensic examiner program in Suffolk County, New York.
2:24.5	We had 20 nurses who would go out any hour of the day of the night to attend to sexual assault patients at four area hospital emergency rooms.
2:35.7	Fewer than one-tenth of one percent of nurses worldwide have this certification.
2:42.4	This is for superheroes.
2:45.4	I'll tell you there are some hard truths in this line of business,
	...

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