Our son is 25 years old with special needs, and he’s nonverbal. He was admitted with minor pneumonia. The next morning, he suddenly went into respiratory arrest. He was intubated and rushed to the MICU.

They scoped his lungs and found massive amounts of fluid. Just as we were all trying to find a reason for his sudden decline, nurse Tara Harrison thought to check his eyes. No one on the previous floor did so. None of the other personnel thought to check his eyes. Tara did and found his eyes were fixed, dilated, and nonreactive.

He was rushed to CT, where it was discovered that his VP shunt had stopped working after 22 years. His cerebral ventricles were so large that his brain was severely compressed. Neurosurgery emergently placed an external drain in his head to relieve the pressure. If it were not for Tara, our son would not be here today.

He still has a long way to go to recover, but he has a chance thanks to Tara. She has checked on him and us every day since.