On behalf of my children and I, we would like to thank your ICU staff and nurses for the exemplary care my husband, M, received. My husband was involved in a tragic car vs bicycle accident and we knew he was not expected to survive. He remained unconscious the entire time and never woke up. Words cannot express our appreciation for the care and compassion your entire staff brought to my husband's last days. Your staff touched our hearts and comforted us during the darkest moments of our lives and they made sure my husband was comfortable and treated with the utmost respect every single day.
We would especially like to thank one nurse in particular, Samy, for her exceptional care and attention. She was on duty for two 12 hour shifts during the three days in ICU and was on shift when M passed away. For three awful nights, my family and I took turns sitting with M, holding his hand and crying, and feeling completely helpless and hopeless. Samy would always check in with us, offered assistance and even asked and was interested in M's life. She delivered bad news with compassion and sadness and her smile and bravery became our lifeline the evening he passed away. Samy answered everyone's medical questions with incredible patience and exceptional knowledge in a manner we would understand, even when we asked the same questions over and over.
Our hearts were completely broken but Samy remained professional and kind. When my children and I made the decision to let M go, Samy explained every step of the agonizing process and stayed with us long after the doctors left that late evening. Samy probably doesn't know this, but we think about her often and the impact she made on our family. The night M passed away, she made an incredibly large impact on us all when she reached out with a "gift" for us. She had in her hand a print-out of M's "last heartbeat" and we were unbelievably comforted with this gesture. My children recently took a copy of his "last heartbeat" to a local tattoo artist and had it tattooed on their arms and are forever comforted by it. Samy now occupies a place in our hearts and she truly was an angel of mercy that evening. I am sure she is unaware of the significant difference she made in our lives. She truly let M die with dignity and we are forever grateful.
Although I've thought about what I wanted to say to everyone for the last 8 weeks, words really cannot express our appreciation to everyone. Thank you again for the gentleness in which my husband was treated and the compassion shown. We know that M's exit from this earth was going to be difficult for us all, but I was assured he was comfortable and pain-free. It is difficult for us without the patriarch of our family, but somehow we will make sense of this awful tragedy and carry on as he would have wanted.