When I was in nursing school, I never thought the girl I sat beside in class and clinicals would actively demonstrate the skills and knowledge we both learned on my own family member. 

We began our journey in the MSICU after being transferred from Northcrest. I watched my mother be intubated due to ARDS from the flu. I remember the distress I felt as I stayed with my mother day and night. It got to a point where it was mentally debilitating. I watched my mother suffer for eight days on the ventilator.

One day, I received a text message. It was a picture of my mother’s hair in braids, neatly combed over. In that text message was the nurse who brushed the knots out of my mother’s hair with her own detangler spray she brought from home. To my surprise, I knew the nurse in the photo. It was Kaylie. Kaylie was my mother’s nurse—the same Kaylie who gave me study tips in school. I could feel the relief through that photo of my mother having the matted knots brushed out of her hair by the expression on her face.

The next day, my dad frantically called me, stating, “Today’s the day they’re going to try to extubate your mom.” Little did I know Kaylie would be there, assisting in the extubation process.

I cannot express my gratitude to Kaylie. She sat with me in nursing school, and she sat with me and helped save my mother’s life. I am forever in debt to Kaylie for the care and heroic efforts she put in to save my mother’s life. If you had told us this story in nursing school, we would have looked at you as if you were crazy.