Tarek was my mom‘s nurse for three of the five days she was in the hospital. My mom was brought into the emergency room by ambulance and the family was scared, so much so, that I drove seven hours from West Virginia to be by her side. During the time that Tarek took care of my mom the compassion and patience he showed to her, and the rest of the family was extraordinary. Our family is strong-willed and very inquisitive. Tarek answered whatever questions he could, but had a way of making us feel better about the questions he could not answer. All while providing extraordinary care. During my mother’s hospital stay, she had two blood transfusions, and was in a lot of pain. I was with her day and night the entire time doing all that I could, but feeling helpless. Tarek recognized this and was able to say the right things to make me feel better and to know that just being there was helping her. I could see that Tarek was always busy and seemed to never take a break, but he was always there whenever we needed him. If I had to describe him using just a few words they would be compassionate, patient, kind, dedicated, reliable, hard-working, and honest. He made my mom feel like he was taking care of her, just as if he were taking care of his own mother. When I spoke to others in the hospital we all agreed that he made each and every one of his patients feel like they were his only patient, and that meant a lot. Tarek deserves this award and more. He is truly a treasure and MUSC (Florence) should feel honored to have him working there.