After suffering cardiac arrest, my dad was admitted to the CCU at St Mary’s. The care he received was exceptional but yet it still wasn’t enough to save my dad. We were able to have 4 more days with him, however, which allowed us closure. Jon was my dad’s nurse for two of those days. He was so patient, taking time to explain the difference between cardiac arrest and a heart attack — even drawing a picture on the whiteboard in his room. He walked us through every step of the hypothermia protocol making sure we understood what was happening to my dad’s body. He was brutally honest about my dad’s odds of survival and as hard as that was to hear it was necessary for the tough decisions that lay in front of us to make. He also gave us hope. In fact, on the first day he cared for my dad, he overheard me talking to my dad and he asked, “Tell me about your dad”. He wanted to get to know who my dad was as a person, not as a cold unresponsive body lying there in the bed. He wanted to know about our family and how long my parents were married (59 years!) and what my dad did for a living and for fun. Jon genuinely cared about my dad my family and me.

On his second day caring for my dad I was alone at the bedside in my own thoughts and tears and when I stood up, I saw Jon looking at me and he had a tear in his eye. He gave me a hug and we shared a tear over the great family man that lay before us. It is Jon's genuine connection with his patients and their families, his empathetic mannerisms and caring attitude, and soul that make him a DAISY Nurse. He helped my dad in the last hours of his life be comfortable and peaceful and supported me and my family through the toughest decisions we’ll ever have to make. Thank you, Jon.