My father was a patient of Sara’s after being life-flighted to Mayo after a massive widowmaker heart attack. We did not know if he was going to survive. Sara’s presence over the first four days was truly life-changing, not just for my dad but for our family.

She was a constant presence even as doctors rotated through. She was able to make my dad laugh, comfort him, and my mom when she cried, and was incredibly perceptive about everything we needed. For example, there was a discussion of implanting an LVAD device in his heart. This terrified my parents, and Sara could see that. After the physicians left, she walked us through what that would look like, anticipating their fears and helping them understand more clearly in lay terms. She also went and printed educational materials about the device and the procedure that would help explain things for them. She was able to tell that their fear was partly due to a lack of information, and she easily filled that gap so they would know what questions to ask the doctors.

We had extended family come to see my dad, and they are all still talking about Sara and how wonderful she is. When we knew we had to say goodbye to her because my dad was transferring to a regular room and out of the ICU, every single one of us cried because we knew we were leaving Sara behind. As I told her, and am telling you now, for the rest of my life I will never ever forget her. Hearing that she is pursuing her DNP to continue to better serve patients is not surprising, and I think about how lucky those patients will be to be in her care and how blessed we were to be with her.