Ashley went above and beyond in the care of our newborn son. Ashley was his first nurse during his stay at Brookwood NICU, and she was the nurse that we saw most often with him. She always told us how cute he was, how sweet he was, and how much she loved him. She even made a special Halloween craft with his footprints that we will cherish forever. He quickly had to be transferred to another NICU after his 2-week stay at Brookwood upon developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

Ashley quickly reached out to me to check on our boy. I updated her as often as I could because I knew she truly loved him. Not many people got to meet him, and knowing that she truly knew and loved him meant the world to me during that time. He stayed a week at the NICU he was transferred to and sadly passed. We were, and still are, so devastated.

I reached out to Ashley to let her know and invited her to come to his service if she was able. I didn’t know if she would come, but I knew it would mean so much to me to have someone there that truly knew and loved him. She told me she would try to make it, and I was hopeful that she would. When she walked into his service, I made a beeline to her and hugged her for what felt like forever. It meant so much to me that she came. Coming to a patient’s funeral definitely isn’t in her job description, but she showed up anyways. The comfort her presence brought me that day was indescribable. I will forever be grateful for Ashley Meinhardt.