This nurse was working an extra shift and by the grace of God, was assigned as my nurse. I had been in IR several times since being transferred to TUKHS and had multiple tubes placed, upsized, or repositioned. I was fortunate to have many nurses to work with me who were very skillful and compassionate during my previous procedures.

At this point, I had been in the hospital for over 38 days and was extremely weak. I was still able to walk to the bathroom in my hospital room and once a day around the nurse’s station, so I felt comfortable when I told this nurse that I needed to use the restroom and could go across the hall from my IR prep room. I was already prepped for my procedure for my procedures and had IV poles and monitors attached to me, so, this nurse stood on one side of me and my husband stood on the other side. From my husband’s description, I took one step and collapsed. He said my eyes went wide, my jaw went slack, and I turned completely white. He said this nurse told him to let go of me and she got behind me and fell to the ground with me in her arms. I stopped breathing for 20 or more seconds and this nurse immediately started working on me. I do not remember falling, but I do remember seeing my husband literally floating away from me down the hallway. I was clearly “leaving” until this nurse brought me back to life. I immediately started hemorrhaging, and this nurse took immediate action. She and other nurses pushed my legs to my chest and lifted me to a gurney. Once the blood was cleared, they quickly transferred me back to the bed, and the trauma team took over. I was given several blood transfusions and transferred to ICU once I was stable.

I ended up being at TUKHS for 50 days after being at my home hospital for 20 days. I truly believed God placed this nurse with me that day. She saved my life, and our family will be forever grateful. She was calm and decisive and handled the situation. She is my angel!