Our 14-year-old son suffered an accident while pruning trees, which resulted in near-complete amputations of two fingers. He was brought to the Emergency Department for treatment. As one could imagine, he was not only in pain but was terrified and, at times, inconsolable about the possibility of having to live his life missing two fingers. Following an assessment and initial care, he was scheduled to be transferred via ambulance to a higher level of care. Prior to that transfer, one of the emergency room nurses, Stacie, gave our son a little olive wood cross. The nurse wished the patient well and told him that they would be thinking of him and praying for his recovery. We later learned from the attending paramedic that during the ambulance ride, our son, who was overcome with worry, maintained an intensely tight, white-knuckled grip on that little cross as he continuously recited the Lord’s Prayer.

Once at the receiving facility, we were able to meet with a surgeon, who assessed our son's injury. After informing us that he would attempt the replantation, he asked if we had any questions. Our son had one question: “Can I take this with me to the operating room?” as he opened his hand to show the surgeon the cross. The surgeon questioned what it was and where he had gotten it. Our son explained that it was a wooden cross and that a nurse had given it to him. The surgeon told him that he could, indeed, take the cross with him. The doctor then asked if he wanted him to pray with us. The doctor led us in prayer, ending with the Lord’s Prayer. At that moment, we had a much-needed moment of relief and reprieve from all anxiety. We all knew that we were in the right place and had been given the right surgeon. We watched our son continue to grip that little wooden cross until he was wheeled away to the operating room. When he awoke from surgery, he asked if his fingers were able to be saved. The recovery room nurse lifted the blanket from his hand, and he saw that all five fingers were back where they were supposed to be. He also saw that the doctor had tucked that little wooden cross under his thumb, just a couple of inches from his now pink and healthy-looking, newly replanted fingers. Imagine the relief that our son felt when he saw his replanted fingers! And imagine what it meant to him to see that little wooden cross at the same time!

 During the ensuing few days of hospitalization, when hospital staff closely monitored the replantation, he continuously either held onto or somehow affixed that little cross to his splint. It truly never left his sight and also actually became a conversation piece amongst caregivers and visitors. Today, our son continues to heal, and he continues to make good progress with mobility in his fingers. His caregivers expect a full recovery. We later learned that Stacie, the nurse who gave him that little wooden cross, personally buys the crosses and gives them to patients and their families who she thinks might benefit from them. Whether Stacie knows it or not, that little cross meant more and provided more comfort to him than any words or pain medicine. In the face of a life-altering injury for which he had no idea what the outcome might be, our son had only his faith to rely on. That little wooden cross was exactly the reminder that he, quite literally, could hold onto. We are forever grateful for our son's genuine care, compassion, concern, and for that oh-so-powerful, little wooden cross.