A Potter’s Journey Of Love And Loss Connects Sisters Forever

For anyone who has lost a loved one, sometimes you have to look for the silver lining that sometimes comes only through the tragedies we have to overcome in life.

This is one of those stories. It's about a family that carries on, despite their deep loss.

MEET CHLOE NELSON FROM CAMBRIDGE

On any given day, if you walk into Chloe Nelson’s studio, you’ll likely find her at a pottery wheel. It’s more than art for Chloe. It’s a connection. It’s memory. And in many ways, it’s a love that was created in part by her twin sister, who was great at making things on the pottery wheel as well.

Chloe Nelson is 24 and grew up in Cambridge. She first tried pottery in a high school class, never imagining it would one day become a career path.

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“Faith was an avid potter,” Chloe told KARE11. “She would have done big things, I think, with pottery.”

THE UNIMAGINABLE HAPPENED

Tragically, Faith Nelson died on January 1, 2023, at just 21 years old. She was celebrating the New Year when a snowmobile accident took her life as well as a friend of hers. The New Year must bring a different kind of feeling to the Nelson family.

“Yep, January 1,” their mom, Karen Nelson, said. “Those are always hard days.”

Faith’s death reopened a wound the family already knew too well. In 2016, they lost their oldest daughter, Maddy, to childhood cancer. She was just 18.

“It was the start of our second nightmare,” Karen said.

Growing up, Chloe and Faith were inseparable in the way only twins can be. Faith was older by 11 minutes, and that was a fact Faith never let Chloe forget.

THE BEST 11 MINUTES OF HER LIFE - FAITH NELSON

“She always said those were the best 11 minutes of her life,” Chloe laughed. “That pretty much sums her up. She was sarcastic, funny, and just full of life.”

Chloe says the twin bond is something hard to explain unless you’ve lived it.

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HUNTING ACCIDENT IN THE FALL OF 2024

In the fall of 2024, Chloe and her boyfriend Luke were hunting when their harnesses failed while they were in a tree stand, sending them falling more than 20 feet to the ground.

“I tried to stand up,” Chloe said, “and I knew right away something was very wrong.”

She suffered a severe pilon fracture, a crushing injury to the joint surface of her tibia. Surgery was necessary, and her orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Joe Bellamy with Allina Health Orthopedics, explained that repairing the damage would require donor bone.

The moment Chloe heard those words, her thoughts went straight to Faith.

“Of course,” she said. “Of course it would be her.”

Faith had already helped countless other people as an organ donor. Now, would it be possible for her to help her twin sister?

THE SEARCH FOR FAITH'S BONE

So Karen started making calls, pushing the surgery back, and trying to find out if locating bone from Faith was possible.

And then..Magically. It happened. They found some of Faith’s donated bone that had been sent to Florida.

There was only one bag left, and it was exactly what Chloe needed.

When Chloe learned the donor bone was Faith’s, it felt unreal. “I won’t ever forget that moment,” she said.

IT FELT LIKE A BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO CHLOE

The surgery took place in September 2024. Dr. Bellamy packed the bone into Chloe’s leg, allowing her body to heal and rebuild with bone from her sister.

“It felt like a birthday gift. I don’t think many people get to experience something like that. It’s another way I get to carry her with me wherever I go,” Chloe said.

WALK BY FAITH GALA & THE MADDY NELSON MEMORIAL FOUNDATION

Today, the Nelson family continues to honor both Faith and Maddy through love, advocacy, and community. The second annual 'Walk by Faith Gala' will be held on January 31 at Union Depot in St. Paul.

Funds raised will support the Maddy Nelson Memorial Foundation and benefit Camp Norden, HopeKids, and LifeSource, shining a light on the life-saving power of organ donation.