For some people, experiences of profound hardship can be the beginning of the end. Others do their best to cope and move on. A small percentage of people take their difficult experience and use it to change the world. Silke Mader, Chairwoman and co-founder of the European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI), is one such person.
Twenty-two years ago, Ms. Mader gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, at only 25 weeks. Her baby girl died but her son Lukas survived, and was admitted to the neonatology intensive care unit, where he had to stay for several months. One …