Susan Allen
March 2025
Susan
Allen
,
RN
Intensive Care Unit
HSHS St Vincent’s Hospital
Green Bay
,
WI
United States
She went above and beyond her job to save a life, my life.
I am one of the thousands of patients who go through your ICU department. I’m not very good with words and I’m probably way too emotional. But when I was in the ICU, I was only supposed to be in there for one night to recover from having my left carotid artery cleaned out. After the surgery, I was brought to the ICU, and this is the first time in my life I saw an angel.
I had lots of nursing staff helping me get back on my feet, but I need to tell you about a nurse who I believe saved my life and gave me a chance to live a normal life after a bad episode. Around 7 pm. Sue Allen came into my room to give me my supper. She told me her shift was coming to an end, and she would stop back in before she left. I tried to eat the food, and as hard as I tried to get a piece of food on the fork, I couldn’t. I tried to put the fork back on the tray, and I couldn’t do that either.
About 20 to 30 minutes later, she came back in to check on me and asked me how I was doing. She took the tray and started walking out with it as I started talking to her, but she stopped and stared at me for about a minute, then set the tray down and ran to my side. At this point I was falling in and out of consciousness. But every time I remember something, Sue was there. I didn’t know what was going on, but she was the last nurse I saw that night.
The next morning, when I came, the first person I remember seeing was Sue. Sue stayed with me to get me through my recovery. When she left after her shift that day, I told her what she meant to me and hugged her. At a follow-up appointment a few weeks later, my doctor said, “Your nurse was the big savior that night! She caught all the signs of the stroke you were having.”
She went above and beyond her job to save a life, my life. If I had sat in that bed through shift change, I would have been in a lot worse shape than I am now. She treated me with dignity and respect. I can’t say thank you enough. She will never know what she means to me.
Thank you, Sue, for everything. I truly believe she saved my life. I will never forget her!
I had lots of nursing staff helping me get back on my feet, but I need to tell you about a nurse who I believe saved my life and gave me a chance to live a normal life after a bad episode. Around 7 pm. Sue Allen came into my room to give me my supper. She told me her shift was coming to an end, and she would stop back in before she left. I tried to eat the food, and as hard as I tried to get a piece of food on the fork, I couldn’t. I tried to put the fork back on the tray, and I couldn’t do that either.
About 20 to 30 minutes later, she came back in to check on me and asked me how I was doing. She took the tray and started walking out with it as I started talking to her, but she stopped and stared at me for about a minute, then set the tray down and ran to my side. At this point I was falling in and out of consciousness. But every time I remember something, Sue was there. I didn’t know what was going on, but she was the last nurse I saw that night.
The next morning, when I came, the first person I remember seeing was Sue. Sue stayed with me to get me through my recovery. When she left after her shift that day, I told her what she meant to me and hugged her. At a follow-up appointment a few weeks later, my doctor said, “Your nurse was the big savior that night! She caught all the signs of the stroke you were having.”
She went above and beyond her job to save a life, my life. If I had sat in that bed through shift change, I would have been in a lot worse shape than I am now. She treated me with dignity and respect. I can’t say thank you enough. She will never know what she means to me.
Thank you, Sue, for everything. I truly believe she saved my life. I will never forget her!