I brought my two-month-old baby to the ER because she was struggling to breathe as a result of RSV. Because of COVID, my husband couldn’t be with me. I had no idea how sick she was and assumed they could give her a little bit of oxygen and we’d be home. The situation escalated very rapidly and my daughter ended up needing to be placed on a ventilator. As I’m sure you can imagine this was an absolutely horrifying overwhelming traumatic situation particularly being alone with the baby without her dad.

Brittany went so far above and beyond in so many ways from the moment she walked in the room the first time to the moment we left for the PICU. She was a literal shoulder to cry on. She explained every single intervention in such great easy-to-understand detail so I knew as much as I possibly could about what was happening. She prepared me for the possibility of ventilation well in advance of her actual intubation and talked me through exactly what to expect both at the moment and afterward. She treated my daughter with such incredible tender care.

She was never unrealistic with me even when I’m sure it was incredibly hard to deliver upsetting news. And most importantly I feel that my baby is still alive because of her advice. She was the one who calmed my nerves about proactively intubating my baby before she stopped breathing. If she hadn’t been as amazing as she was I very likely would have been too scared to allow it and the outcome could have been catastrophic.

This has been the absolute worst week of my life and we’re not even out of the woods yet - I’m writing this from the PICU. When you decide to become a mother when you protect your baby for 40 weeks in your body when they place them on your chest and you promise to always protect them - you never ever think that 11 weeks later they’d be fighting to survive in a medically induced coma on a ventilator. It is a hell that you can’t put into words. And in my absolute darkest moments when I was drowning in terror Brittany pulled me to the surface. She dried my tears and brought me back to earth so I could focus on the matter at hand.

While they were intubating my daughter, a moment no parent should ever have to endure, she locked eyes with me across the room and nodded to tell me it was Okay. I will replay that moment in my head forever. She carried me through. She showed me so much compassion at a time when I’d never needed it more. The ER was so busy. My kid wasn’t special - this RSV outbreak is huge and I’m sure there were others there just as sick as she was. But Brittany made me feel certain that my baby was going to be taken care of no matter what. I will never forget her for the rest of my life.