We arrived at almost midnight for my Brother-in-law, M, who was Lifeflighted due to a Cardiac event that involved significant time w/out oxygen. During the 13 days at the hospital, we spent many days w/ Anthony Abdallah as M's nurse right until the very end.

After just one day with Anthony, we found ourselves asking him for his schedule and putting a request in for him every day that he was there, including M's final day, which unfortunately ended with us losing him. From day one, Anthony's dedication, kindness, compassion, knowledge, experience, and most of all his heart were what got us through some of the toughest days in our lives. Anthony was always willing to answer any questions we had and provided whatever knowledge he had to help us feel involved in M's care and understand what was being done for him and where things were at.

Many days I was the first visitor in the morning and one of the last in the evening, and Anthony's care was always top-notch, and his comfort for not only the patient but the family was the same no matter what time it was. My niece, M's daughter, had such an instant connection to Anthony that when he had a day off and we happened to run into him at the hospital, on the floor, she broke out in tears, and he came right over and hugged us both. He has a huge heart and really is such an inspiration. We were fortunate to spend many hours with him; although the experience was heartbreaking, he was always there for us. No questions we had went unanswered; if he didn't know, he would find out or find someone else who might know. Anthony was the family's choice for whom we wanted to be by our side as we had to make the unfortunate decision to turn to comfort care and allow M's body to decide what it wanted.

For such a tragedy, we knew that M and his family/friends were in great hands with Anthony by our side. Portland Maine Medical Center is very fortunate to have such an amazing person working for them in the CICU. I would highly recommend Anthony Abdallah for the DAISY Award