Christmas Day was one of the worst days of our lives. Our 18-year-old son, S, was in a horrific car accident. He arrived in the ED unable to breathe on his own and was immediately intubated. A CT of his head showed a traumatic brain injury, and he was admitted to the ICU.

We arrived at our "home," trying to process everything that was happening, and we met Griffin Giles, RN. He introduced himself and told us he would be taking care of S until the shift changed. He answered all of our questions and was very attentive to every one of S's needs. At 6:30p the ICU staff began shift change, so we stepped out. At 7p, Griffin came to the waiting area and asked me to come back. He told me it appeared that S had started having some seizure activity, and neurosurgery wanted a STAT CT to assess for any worsening changes. This was devastating news.

Because S was on a ventilator and unstable, he required a few nurses and a respiratory therapist to accompany him to CT. The ICU staff was in the middle of a shift change, and everyone was busy. It was Christmas night after 7p, and Griffin's shift was officially over. Without hesitation, he said, "I'm staying so that we can get S to CT right now." They got all their transport equipment hooked up and took him to get rescanned. Again, it was Christmas night after 7p. Griffin had already been at the hospital working for 13 hours. He had spent Christmas away from his home and family, and instead of leaving as soon as he could, he stayed. He stayed to take care of our son. He stayed to help give our family some peace of mind during one of the worst moments in our lives. He was a true blessing that night. He was S's nurse again the next day, and during a time of uncertainty, we were confident that S was receiving the best care.