Our newborn daughter, S, was admitted to INOVA Fairfax with Enteroviral Mycarditis, placing her in the Cardiac ICU. In our final days before transferring to Children's National, Nurse Julia in the CICU provided exceptional care for our daughter. S was in critical condition on ECMO circulatory support, and we were incredibly lucky to have Julia as our bedside nurse for two consecutive days.

Julia went out of her way to not only provide exceptional care to our daughter but also to make our family feel cared and loved for. Julia loved our child as if she was her own, and built her own relationship with our daughter -- she never simply viewed S as another patient. She felt so strongly about our daughter that when we arrived the morning of her transfer we found a hand-drawn card wishing our family well at Children's National. Julia adorned the front of the card with a hand-drawn purple bow, just like the one that Julia had dressed our daughter in for the previous two days. This purple bow became S's symbol of strength throughout her hospital stays, and now in memoriam. We cannot thank Julia enough for the exceptional care she provided our daughter, the love and personal attention she provided our family with, and the impact she made on our family for a lifetime.