My partner was admitted to have his leg amputated. He had some set backs after and ended up with a hole in his throat to breath and developed a really bad sore on his other foot and bottom. He had pretty much given up after months in the hospital when we met our guardian angel. That’s what we still call her. She impacted our lives so much. My partner was in the hospital when COVID was so high. Children were not allowed in the hospital. When Nicola walked into the room, she asked us to set a goal for the day. My partner rolled his eyes, and she was persistent in asking him what she could do. He wanted to see his children. So he told her that. She looked at a few papers in her hands and she said ok, let’s make this happen. He perked up and was like really? And she said yes. I see no reason why you cannot go outside and enjoy the fresh air. Your family can come to see you. We asked about his oxygen, and she said he was on low enough that he could use a portable tank. After being in the hospital for so long, he didn’t know if he could sit up in a wheelchair. She got a sling, and we tried, and it didn’t work. She didn’t give up. We tried on a recliner. And with it reclined, it worked! He was finally excited for the first time in months.

We planned for his children to visit him the next day. It took a lot. To switch his oxygen over and move him. The whole family was excited. He was excited. He hadn’t seen his children in over two months. Then, we were confronted with the fact that the recliner would not go through the door. It was too wide. His son was crying, thinking that it was the closest he would get to his dad. We sat on one side of the glass, and he was on the other. Nicola didn’t give up. As we talked through the glass, she found a door that could fit the recliner. I cannot describe the feelings we had when she got him through that door, and we finally hugged as a family again. We all cried. It was cold outside, and she called for extra blankets to be brought to us.

This really changed our lives because, before this, my partner was going to have to go to a nursing home. After seeing his kids, he had the drive to come home. We literally brought him home in less than two weeks. I do not think this would have been possible if Nicola hadn’t entered our life. She gave my partner a will to live. Nicola also did the same thing for the next weekend. If not for her, he would have never worked with therapy as much to come home. She was our angel.