Our family experienced a devastating tragedy. My dad woke up in the middle of the night and thought his CPAP was smoking. He stumbled around the room and noticed the house was on fire. His phone had been burnt. My mom was in the living room, asleep. The flames were so big he couldn’t get to her. Our family is a farming family. We live in the county, a couple of miles from each other. My 78-year-old father dove out the window, breaking his C1-C3. He drove 2 miles to my brother’s house to call 911. By the time they arrived back at the house, they were unable to get to my mom. They found her body at the back door, inches from escaping.

We were dealing with my father’s injury at a hospital an hour away from home, my mother’s death, and all the insurance things that come with a house fire. Danielle was his nurse the following morning. She sat in his room and held his hand while he cried. She let him use her personal cell phone to call family because he had been burned. She ordered him all his meals and talked him through all his anxiety. She listened and listened for hours. She sat with him until the family arrived later in the afternoon. The ER was full, and patients were lined up in the halls. She was a true angel. He was so sad to leave the ER because of the impact she made on him. She will never know how much of a light she was in my dad’s darkness. I could never repay her. He still talks about her. If only Danielle knew how many lives she has touched. I’m thankful she had a hand in his recovery. I am sure she was sent by my mom in heaven.