Here is what patient Eli’s family, Jesse, Jodie & Walker M., had to say about Laura: “I would like to take a moment to extend my sincerest gratitude for the service, the compassion, and the love that was shown to our family over the month of August while our twin boys were in the care of UAMS. One nurse in particular went above and beyond to ease our heartache and we have felt compelled to let you know about it. On August 3rd, at 36 weeks gestation, we were admitted to UAMS by our Fetal-Medicine Doctor. One of our boys, Eli, had been diagnosed earlier in the pregnancy with Spina Bifida, and after 4 months of preparation, we were more than prepared to care for our special needs son at the point of delivery. After delivery, Eli was taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital NICU for further evaluation while our younger twin, Walker, remained in the UAMS NICU. The next day, we received the news that our precious Eli was diagnosed with Multiple Anomalies, meaning he had a number of other serious life-threatening issues that were not picked up on the ultrasound during the pregnancy. Our family had to make a choice that no new parent should ever have to make: we chose to let our beautiful baby go back into our Lord’s arms. On August 6th, we pulled all tubes off of Eli at ACH and were told to expect only minutes with him. But, against all odds, Eli kept breathing. Fourteen hours later, after very encouraging words from doctors at ACH and UAMS, we finally opted to have Eli transported to UAMS to be with his twin brother during his last day of life to spend as a family instead of being split between an interstate. It was obvious that Eli had ‘unfinished business’ and we didn’t want to keep them apart any longer. That evening, a nurse was placed with us in Walker’s room at UAMS; a nurse whom we had not had before during our stay at UAMS. And, as we were holding our dying son in our arms, this nurse, Laura Ryan, stepped in with great courage to help us through that time. We were extremely fatigued; to the point where our heads were bobbing up and down. We had been up for 4 days straight, with the last day being spent staring at Eli’s breathing and wondering if that was going to be his last breath. We were exhausted and Jodie hadn’t even had a chance to rest following her C-section days earlier, yet we didn’t want to shut our eyes because we were afraid Eli would pass and we would not be awake to see him through. Laura took him from our arms, told us to take a nap, and assured us she would hold and watch him while we rested. Each time we would open our eyes, Laura would be in the room with Eli in one arm, and working on charts with the other. At one point, she had wheeled the computer station into our NICU room and was working with one arm to stay caught up with her shift work while also making sure he was comfortable and warm in the other arm. We had numerous hours’ worth of inspirational conversation with her and she knew just what to say to put our hearts at ease. Our Eli passed away at 2:50A on August 10th and it was thanks to her that he was placed in our arms as it happened. Laura shared the last hours with our son and never acted as though it was frightening or inconveniencing her. This is a moment in time that we will never forget for as long as we live. We were fortunate to have been placed with Laura again the following weekend. A lot has to be said when you have so much admiration for someone because they were the biggest contributor to hearts being allowed to be at peace with the death of their child. Laura did so much more than what was expected during our 2 weeks with her and we are forever grateful for her service, friendship, and compassion.”