It was every nurse and parents' worst nightmare. A five-year-old boy lost his battle to ALL that night in the ER. We see codes frequently in the ER but we are never prepared for the death of a pediatric patient no matter the time of day. I would like to nominate Josh Mahannah for not only his efforts of the leading his team as our Nightshift Charge nurse through the code but for the efforts he made after the code.
The following was posted on our Facebook page by an employee who saw Josh following the code: "I saw you. When you didn't think anyone was looking, I say you embrace the young man who had just lost his child. I say you wipe away your own tears and extend your arms to embrace him again as he held on to you tightly. Trying to get away from the heaviness of what the day brought, I sat alone across the street to have a little time to decompress. But the moment I saw you in the parking lot, the lump in my throat became tight and the emotions poured out of me. I cannot comprehend what that man is going through, but what I do know is that the connection you had with him means something. And it meant something to me." Josh Mahannah walked around Wesley to help the father cope with the loss of his son. Josh himself is a father and only he could understand the volume of pain that father felt that day. Josh is our silent knight without a cape.