In life, every so often you will meet a human being that you will never forget. Once or twice in your life, you will encounter a person in this world that is exemplary and unforgettable; simply put, this person is on another level. This superhuman will forever change your life and will make you look at the world a little differently, with an outlook of more appreciation and gratitude. It takes a very special person in the world to help you see life that way and due to that, you will NEVER forget the experience you had with them.

From there your outlook will then help change the lives of others, paying it forward one experience at a time. To our family, this is the story of a real-life superhero that you have working within your ranks at SickKids Hospital. Here is our story:

Our son A was born with CCTGA and was delivered in London Ontario. From his birth, he visited four different hospitals and was eventually discharged after being in hospital care for 8 weeks. During his hospital stays, we had many fabulous experiences with nurses and doctors, but there was one nurse that stood out above the rest. In fact, on his four-month birthday, A is back at SickKids and she continues to stand out above the rest. This nurse in our opinion is a real-life superhero and she is a one-of-a-kind human being.

From the moment Jennifer Barreiras came into A’s care, his life changed. The biggest reason we are so thankful for Jennifer being one of A's nurses, is the fact that she treats A like he was her own son and took an interest in not only his well-being but also a general interest in getting to know him. She created an instant bond with him that no other nurse or doctor was able to replicate. With that bond came trust. You could tell that she was so very proud to be his nurse and she showed us as parents that he trusted her instantly. We believe that it takes a special type of human to work in a hospital setting.

From there, we truly believe that it takes a very special type of human being to work in a hospital setting with newborns, infants, and children. Working in the CCCU is the exact place Jennifer needs to be. Her personality is contagious. Her bedside manner is phenomenal and needs to be replicated by every person working in health care. She has care, compassion, spunk, wittiness, energy, intelligence, and quirkiness – all of which make her the perfect nurse to bring joy and happiness to patients' lives while they are in the care of other human beings. Jennifer’s energetic and bubbly personality does nothing but bring joy and happiness to A’s face and he is in a state of constant enjoyment when Jennifer looks after him – you can tell that he loves her so much and we are forever thankful for that.

The coolest thing we notice is when we come into the room and she is over the moon excited to tell us about the experience she has had with him. She takes the time to feed him, cuddle him, talk to him, and play with him, all on top of helping the other nurses out with their patients and her other child she’s responsible for. It’s incredible how she can do it all while also always staying positive, calm, cool, and collected.

On top of the aforementioned information, Jennifer is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable. With that said, one of the biggest things we appreciate about her is that she takes the time to speak to us like a colleague and doesn’t talk down to us. We have paid incredible attention to the inner workings of our son, and she talks to us more so like a colleague than a parent who doesn’t have the knowledge that we do. For that, we appreciate her even more. She also has the skill to help calm us down when we have shown stress and we always leave A without a care in the world because we know she’s taking care of him like we would at home. There are many amazing nurses working at SickKids and other Hospitals around the world. Even though we appreciate all of them, every once in a while when someone stands out they need to be appreciated that much more. We want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to take care of A, BUT, we need to highlight Jennifer because she truly is one of the most remarkable human beings we have ever met and she has brought the most happiness to our son who loves her so much.

Thank you to all the nurses, doctors, surgeons, and health care professionals working day in and day out in the most stressful environment there is, but to Jenn B, we can’t thank you enough for being there for A. We love and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a Super-Hero for our son.