My Dad was admitted to Carbondale Hospital through the ER after a rollover lawn tractor accident. He was taken to the ICU that evening. When we returned to the hospital the next day, Kendra was his nurse. She explained everything that was going on with him. When someone new entered the room, she explained to them what was going on.

She was his nurse that Saturday and Monday because we were fortunate in that she had picked up the extra shift on Monday. The following weekend she was back. While the other nurses took wonderful care of him, Kendra was just so extra special. We learned about her family, her dogs, and her life. It felt as if we had a friend with us in that difficult time.

In the early morning, we got a call to come in because he was not doing well. When we got there, the nurse on duty told us that Kendra had called around 1:00 a.m. to check on him because she couldn’t sleep and just had a feeling that something was going on with him. She came into the ICU waiting room at about 6:00 a.m. just to sit with us before her shift to explain what was happening and the tough decisions that we were going to have to make.

She came back into the ICU waiting room just before 7:00 a.m. with tears streaming down her face. She was being floated to the ER. She wanted so badly to be with us on his final day. She assured us that – if possible – she would be back up to check on us.

When all the family arrived that morning, the decision was made to remove the machines and let my Dad go. When he took his final breath, Kendra was in the room with us, crying with us, hugging us, just making a hard time a little easier.