Sadie Wuerfele, RN, BSN

Sadie was our overnight nurse in the ICU when my fiancé, J, was brought to St. Joseph from Maryville. His blood sugar was dangerously high, and he had some other complications as well. Sadie always went above and beyond for him and us, especially by explaining what was going on in terms his 14-year-old son and the rest of us could understand. Sadie was one of the many extraordinary nurses and doctors who worked on him the first night in the hospital when he unexpectedly crashed twice. She was very comforting to us when we rushed back to the hospital and had no idea what was going on.

J underwent many tests the next day. It was long and stressful, but we were all glad to see Sadie was going to be his nurse again the next night, since we felt comfortable with her and knew he was in the best hands. She also made sure we had everything we needed to care for ourselves overnight. J crashed again that night, and they couldn't bring him back. I watched as I bet over a dozen different people did chest compressions on him. It was one of the worst things I have ever witnessed. But all the nurses worked together as a team. They were always there to step in when it was time for someone else to take over, talking everyone through it. Looking back, it was amazing to see the teamwork they all had.

After he passed, Sadie and another nurse cleaned J up so that we could all have more time with him. She took such gentle care of him as she worked, still giving us time with him. Before the rest of our family arrived, it was just my fiancé's son and me there. With so much grace, Sadie checked on us to make sure we were okay, to see if we had any questions, or if she could do anything for us. We both asked for hugs, and she was more than happy to oblige. Sadie showed us the utmost compassion on one of the worst days of our lives. She assured us that he did not feel any pain. Between that and how hard everyone worked to save him, it comforted us to know everyone treated him as if he were their own family member, not just ours. Everyone we encountered on the entire ICU floor was so amazing; they all deserve praise. But Sadie will forever hold a place in our hearts as a little bit of sunshine on our dark day.