Two years ago, at the age of 20, I went to the Cleveland Clinic Medina ER for difficulty breathing. I have asthma and had a virus at the time. My breathing quickly deteriorated, but my assigned nurse gave me anxiety medications and asked me to wait for the doctor. My pulse ox was dropping, and my mother ran out to get assistance.

Kevin overheard my mother’s distress and came in to see if he could help. I was not assigned to Kevin, but he came to the room—reassured me—told me that he would make sure I was cared for and he stayed to monitor me for a few minutes. In those few minutes, he witnessed my pulse ox dip and saw my distress. He called the respiratory team and got the physician immediately. I was nearly intubated, but BiPAP was able to help stabilize me. I was sent up to the ICU, where I spent a week recovering.

I was on BiPAP for 5 days. I never forgot about how Kevin made me feel heard and advocated for me. I truly believe he saved my life! Soon after this experience, I decided to return to college to pursue nursing. I am now an STNA, working in a hospital, and finishing my nursing prerequisites. Fast forward to today, when I ended up in the Medina Emergency Room again. I was having chest pain for a few days and wanted to rule out anything serious. In triage, my mother asked if Kevin was still working at the hospital, and he was actually working at that moment.

I was assigned to Kevin again! Once again, Kevin made me feel comfortable. Every time I had a test or a result came back, Kevin used it as a learning opportunity. He explained the reasoning and values of each thing, from a nursing perspective. He took the time not just to treat me, but to teach me, knowing that I would be learning this information in nursing school. We were able to rule out anything serious.

Since I would like to work in emergency medicine, I was able to see how ruling out serious things can be very useful, even when the specific cause of the issue isn’t resolved in the ER visit. Both times I have experienced care from Kevin, I have felt cared for and understood. He shared that he had personal experience with a serious illness that gave him a perspective that has helped him empathize with patients well. That was very obvious!