There are so many amazing nurses and techs that I could nominate for this award who were involved in my son’s care – but one truly stood out above the rest, and I can never thank her enough. During what was undoubtedly the most horrific and terrifying night of my life, her quick thinking and proactive nature possibly saved my son’s life. My son had undergone surgery for ear tubes, tonsillectomy, and adenoidectomy the day before.

The procedure went smoothly, and we could be discharged home that day. He seemed to be doing well until the next night when I reached out to her for help. I asked her to come over and watch my younger son (who also had ear tubes and adenoids removed the day before) so my husband and I could take his brother to the ER for suspected re-bleeding from his tonsillectomy site. As soon as I hung up the phone, my suspicion was confirmed as my son started profusely vomiting blood and huge blood clots. I called her back in tears and panicked as my worst nightmare unfolded while my husband called 911 and we were tending to my son; she immediately told me it would be okay and that she was on her way. She arrived a few minutes after the ambulance and instantly sprang into action. When she saw my son in the back of the ambulance, who was barely conscious, and the blood volume throughout my house, she instantly knew that he needed to return to the OR as soon as possible. Through her fear and panic, she had the foresight to realize that at this hour, the ENT physician would not be in the house and that the pediatric OR team may not be either, and my son could not afford to wait much longer. She called ENT and St. Joe’s Children’s Hospital to let them know what was happening and to allow them to ensure that all the appropriate team members and providers were there. When we got to the ER, we were immediately taken back to a room where we stayed just long enough to get his weight and vital signs before being taken to pre-op, where ENT and anesthesia were ready and waiting for him.

After the procedure, the ENT informed us that my son was profusely bleeding from one of his tonsillectomy incisions, and it made it very challenging to secure his airway and re-cauterize the site. However, the team was able to close the site successfully, and he was no longer bleeding. The surgeon expressed her gratitude for calling and ensuring she was there and ready to go to the OR, as my son had lost more than half of his blood volume in this short amount of time. Had the appropriate teams and providers not been ready and waiting for my son, things could have unfolded significantly differently for him and our family. I will never be able to express the appropriate thanks or gratitude for helping to prevent this. She has told me repeatedly that I do not need to thank her, and she was doing her job (so I know she will hate this), but she did so much more than that for us. And the thing is, I know that she would do this for anyone because she is just that type of nurse and person who always goes above and beyond, thinks ten steps ahead, and gives everyone her all. I can’t think of anyone who deserves this DAISY Award more than her!