I was walking through the front of the hospital when I heard a young man yelling “ma’am” at me. I stopped and approached this young man and his mother. Upon approaching, it was clear that this was a special needs young adult. He very excitingly asked me “do you have a helicopter”? I told him that we certainly do have one outside. He asked if he could see it. His mother apologized and explained that he is obsessed with helicopters and ambulances because his brother was a fire fighter in California. They were here for some lab draws and then were headed home.

During our conversation, they were paged to go to a counter for registration. I walked them over and then went around the corner to call Jamie Taraba, our Director of the ER. I told her about the young person's request. Without any hesitation, Jamie said, “Where is he now”? She said that she could easily make that happen for him and get him a tour of the ambulance and helicopter.

We hung up and she was on her way to meet us. I then asked the mother privately if it was ok for us to show him. The look in her eyes when I told her was one of complete joy. She said that this would mean the world to him. I had the gift of sharing with the young person that he would indeed get to see both the ambulance and helicopter and that Jamie was on her way. He was jumping up and down he was so excited. Jamie came around the corner and introduced herself to both the young person and his mother. She then accompanied them to PAT and stayed with him keeping him calm while they drew his labs. After that she took him through COU so he could see the Halloween decorations and then out to the bay. She was able to get the helicopter pilot to come out and show him the helicopter. He was able to climb in it and look around. She then took him to the ambulance and EMS let him climb in the back and sit up front.

His mother was on facetime the entire time showing his father the young person's adventures. And Jamie was filming it so she could send it to the mother to have. His last request was to meet a physician. Jamie took him to meet a doctor and he got to shake his hand. This was something that probably took 20 minutes out of Jamie’s extremely busy day but she did it without hesitation. Something that we see every day that we may forget is something so big for someone else. She made a memory for the young person and his family that they will never forget. I am so proud of Jamie and the compassionate leader that she is. She overwhelmingly deserves this DAISY Award for her kindness, selflessness, and leadership. Thank you, Jamie!