Emily has been a stellar example of the IU Health Way in her care for patients over the past several months, but her care for one patient shines particularly bright. This patient had been on our unit for several months and rarely had family present due to them living hours away. Over the course of the past two months, this patient got very sick. Emily grew close with this patient in the months prior, and would frequently volunteer to care for them, despite the seemingly endless list of tasks that came with it. The patient would often call out for Emily, even when she wasn’t here. In short, they loved her.

As they grew increasingly sick over the past few weeks, Emily would always go out of her way even when she wasn’t at work to increase their quality of life. The most recent example was on Halloween – Emily brought them in a costume of their favorite superhero, spiderman, for them to wear that night so they could have a special night, even if they were bed-bound in the hospital.

Sadly, shortly after Halloween, their sickness began to overcome all their small body could take, and they were transferred to the PICU. When it was apparent that they would need to be put on a ventilator, the last thing they asked the nurse was if they could keep their spiderman costume on while they were intubated. When they passed two days later, they still had their costume on, just as they wished. They were a superhero to all of us. Even when their care required every minute of time in a shift, Emily was thinking of ways to care for their soul as well. She rose in a time of darkness to provide the best quality of life the patient could ask for. Turns out, she was a superhero too.