A mom who, after 10 years, searched for and personally thanked the medical team who saved his son's life.
Eli, who was 14 weeks then, was in a car accident with his mom and dad. AJ, the father, was killed while his mom, Kellie, lived. Eli was critically injured and went through intensive treatments in the hospital.
Eventually, the baby surpassed it all and lived a good life. Kellie married a new man who stood as her baby's new dad.
As a nurse, I am personally touched by the events in the video. It is unusual for
patients or the relatives of our patients to go back or search for those who helped them, after 10 years. This is one-of-a-kind.
I remember years ago, I was looking around inside a shoes store. I noticed a lady, looking about mid-40's, was staring at me then after a while she started following me around the store. I got creeped out a bit but I decided to just ignore her. Not long, the lady approached me and asked me if I was working as a nurse in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) of a private hospital in our hometown. I confirmed. She gave me a smile but I guess she read the weirded facial expression I had. She said I already forgot who she is and said "oh well that's been 2 years ago." I asked her where we met. She told me that she is the wife of my former patient in the CCU. His husband had hermorrhagic stroke, went through craniectomy and tracheostomy, was mechanically ventilated and unresponsive for a few weeks. They have been in the CCU for almost a month and another month in the private room. They even transferred to the ward at a point prior to discharge because their finances were almost depleted.
She pointed a man from a corner in the store. That was him, my patient, she said. He was walking (although not normal gait) and he looked normal (no signs of being unhealthy aside from his gait and his slightly drooped right eye). All of a sudden, it flashed back in my mind - the patient, intubated, with NGT, comatose in the bed of our CCU. I remembered him! Yes! I looked at him for a second and I could not believe him now from what came up from my memory.
The lady started telling me stories about his husband's therapies after they were discharged. I was in such disbelief. It was the first time I saw a discharged, well and functioning ex-patient.
Many things were running inside my head but all of it stopped when I heard the lady said two words. "Thank you," she said. It melt my heart. I wanted to hug her for what she said. I felt proud for giving the man his life back and I felt overly happy for the woman's gratitude. Her, remembering me, taking time to approach me and talk to me, much more thanked me...that was one of the best moments I had being a nurse.
We are just strangers for our patients and their relatives. Yet, for us, they are people that we impart our care to. They are the people we do not want to die and want to get well so we do.
We, nurses, may get a small amount of pay for our job, but a simple gratitude from patients and SO's make is worth a million in exchange for our hard work and sacrifices. Believe me when I say that a simple and sincere thank you penetrates deep and erases all our stresses.
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