Ethan Thomas, BSN, RN, CPN

My 5-year-old daughter recently became very ill very suddenly. I brought her to the ED at CRMH, and the next several hours were full of worry and uncertainty, followed by a devastating and unexpected diagnosis: aplastic crisis. My daughter was diagnosed with sickle beta thalassemia plus disease when she was 6 months old, a blood disorder that can cause severe pain crises, a compromised immune system, and the risk of rapid, sudden, and life-threatening destruction of red blood cells, among other things.

Obviously, upon receiving the aplastic crisis diagnosis, I knew my child was going to be admitted. By the time we arrived in the room it was after 1:00 a.m., my child's hemoglobin was 8.6 and falling, and I was beyond terrified of all the uncertainty surrounding her condition.

Then Ethan Thomas, walked into our room, and I immediately knew we were in good hands. My daughter's middle name means "butterfly." Ethan had 2 butterfly tattoos on his forearm. Some weight lifted off my shoulders, enough that I felt like I could take a deep breath for the first time in hours.

Ethan got us settled into the room, and immediately he and my daughter became besties. Ethan is high energy, but there's a calmness to it that helps reassure you.

After being on the unit for a little while, Ethan came into the room and told me that even though he hoped that my daughter's hemoglobin rebounded before her next lab draw, he had operated under the assumption that she would ultimately need a blood transfusion and took the initiative to go ahead and call the blood bank to see if they had the blood she needed, as a type and screen had already been completed per my request in the ED.

The hospital blood bank did not have the blood type with the phenotype that my child needed. So, they called around and found the blood... in Raleigh, NC, about a 3-hour drive from here.

By the time my daughter's hemoglobin was checked again around 5:00 a.m. (using the pain-free PIVO method, as Ethan had also called Vascular already to make sure they had someone available to come to our room and avoid another needle stick), it was 6.6 and dropping... but the life-saving blood she needed was already on the way from Raleigh.

Ethan's actions helped to expedite the arrival of this desperately needed bag of life-saving PRBCs for my daughter, and I am forever grateful.

I've been a nurse for 15 years and my husband for over 20, and we know that a nurse's number one job is to advocate for their patient. Ethan did that and then some because while my exhausted, stressed, and scared-to-death mom mind was not thinking ahead, Ethan was. 

Also, side note: Ethan threw my daughter an awesome "potty party," during which my child used the potty without needing a straight cath for the first time in almost 3 days.