No matter how lucky we are in life, we’re all going to end up in some situations that have us feeling vulnerable. And sometimes, those situations unfold when nobody we know is around to help.
Still, as much as we’ve often been told not to depend on the kindness of strangers, we don’t always have a choice. And if we’re lucky, we end up meeting one of those rare people who step up when we need them the most.
Fortunately, one child in Pennsylvania was exactly that lucky when he met a particular nurse.
The medical field can be crazy, and those who work in it see a side of humanity that not many others see.
Once in a while, the brave people who work in this sector share a slice of their day with us, and it can catch a lot of people off guard.
One ER nurse shared this photo that went viral for being so shocking and chaotic.
In the caption, he wrote, “It’s easy to separate yourself from these scenes. In fact, as healthcare professionals we have to. Less than 5 minutes after this code, I returned to the ER floor where I was yelled at by a patient with back pain because I had forgotten to bring him graham crackers. But he doesn’t understand. He can’t understand. This is what we do, this is what we give. Never forget the human element. Never take it for granted. And never forget to save a piece of yourself.”
Or this footage of maternity nurses saving babies during an earthquake in Korea.
At the end of the day, nurses, doctors, paramedics — anyone who helps in a crisis is a hero. And this next story is no different.
For five-year-old Slade Thompson, the hospital was starting to feel a little too familiar.
He had underwent an undisclosed surgery earlier this year and was scheduled for another procedure to remove his tonsils last month.
The hospital environment can be extremely tough for children to bare even as visitors —and as patients themselves, it’s a scary feat.
Although services exist to mediate the difficult experience of being a child patient, like therapy dogs, there’s nothing quite like the kindness of another person to comfort a child — and that’s what little Slade was lucky enough to get.
As his mother, Layla, told WNEP, “He’s been through a lot this last year.”
“We had been in the children’s hospital, so we were kind of nervous just going to a hospital to have it done,” she explained .
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Fortunately, the surgery seemed to go without incident.
While Layla was sitting in the waiting room, some staff members approached to tell her the good news.
As she said, “They came out and said, ‘He’s awake,’ and we thought, ‘Oh, my goodness.'”
However, the only problem was that she couldn’t see him quite yet.
Before she could be reunited with Slade, a team of nurses would need to ensure his vital signs were at normal levels.
Still, waking up from something like this without the comforting presence of your family is a lot for a five-year-old to handle.
As Nurse Annie Hager told WNEP, “When I told him Mom couldn’t be there, he asked if I would snuggle him and I said, ‘sure will,'”
And as you can see, she was true to her word.
And when Layla saw what Hager was doing for her son, she knew it was a moment she had to capture.
As she said, “You want someone to treat your child the way you would treat them, you know, so whenever I turned the corner and saw them, I looked at my fiancé and we both went, ‘Aww!’ We both started getting a little teary-eyed.”
For her part, Hager showed a pretty humble attitude about her act of kindness.
She said, “Anyone that works up there would have done the same thing.”
Nonetheless, Slade and his family wanted to show her what she meant to them.
So when Slade had a follow-up appointment at that hospital, he came with a little surprise for Hager.
He had brought her flowers and was ready to give her a warm hug along with them.
Hager said, “I cried, yeah. It’s humbling.”
Since sharing the photo, their story has gone viral, reaching thousands of people around the world.
UPMC Susquehanna, the medical center where Hager works, shared their story on Facebook with a heartfelt note about nursing, “When Slade Thompson of Renovo woke up from tonsil surgery, all he wanted was to be snuggled and cared for. Not thinking twice, Annie Hager, RN, climbed right into the bed and snuggled the little boy.”
“As a nurse, providing care is one thing, but making sure our patients are calm and comfortable matters just as much,” they said.
“It’s nurses like Annie – who show true compassion – that keep our patients happy.”
h/t: WNEP