Cheryl Jaingue, RN, BSN, RNC-NIC

My son P was admitted to CHLA less than 24 hours after birth, arriving by helicopter with my husband. It was the scariest experience of our lives, especially as first-time parents.
We were told that in order to save his life, he would need to be placed on an ECMO machine. I will never forget walking into his room and seeing his tiny body hooked up to so many machines, with tubes everywhere. It was overwhelming and heartbreaking.

Every staff member we encountered was kind and compassionate, but one person immediately felt like family—Cheryl. She spent countless hours caring for P and played a vital role in saving his life. She made us feel like she was doing more than just her job—she was helping to hold our family together during the most difficult time of our lives.

After a couple of weeks, P was moved from the ICU, and even then, Cheryl took time out of her day to come visit, check on him, and see how we were doing. That meant more to us than words can express.

That period of time felt like we were living in a dark tunnel, where everything stood still. Cheryl was our light—our son’s angel—and someone we will never forget. We are forever grateful for the incredible staff at CHLA, and especially for Cheryl.

Thanks to Cheryl and the incredible team who worked so tirelessly to care for our son, we have been blessed to watch P grow over the past seven years. We’ve created unforgettable memories as a family—something we will never take for granted.

Through this experience, we witnessed the true power of prayer and God’s presence in our lives. Because of that, we brought our precious baby home. This journey has brought our entire family closer to God in ways we never imagined, and we carry that with us every day.