The Daisy

Several months ago, we nominated one of Sawyer's nurses, Emma, to receive the Daisy Award for Excellence in Nursing. You can read all about the foundation and the award here. Emma was such an amazing caregiver. All of the nurses at St. Francis NICU were incredible, but she went above and beyond even their high standard. She came in or called on her days off to check on Sawyer, she came to his funeral, and she called us at home several times to see how we were doing. She also read a memorial tribute to Sawyer at the ceremony the hospital hosted. She's very special to us, and we were so proud of her for being chosen.


Since we nominated her, we were invited to attend the award ceremony, which took place last Tuesday, August 21. All of the nurses were so pleased that we came (my mom and dad, Jim, and I). They said out of all the times people had been invited, only one other family had ever come to the actual presentation, and while it's enough to just take the time to nominate someone, it was even more special for a family to attend. I started to feel like we were the honorees for awhile!


As I said, we were very happy for Emma, and she so deserves this recognition for being such a wonderful nurse and friend. We will never forget the kindness she showed our son. We only wish we could recognize ALL of those who took such kind and loving care of him. In the picture below, Emma is standing with Dr. Ramiro, Sawyer's main doctor, and Julie, his nurse practitioner. They were both amazing women who fought valiantly for Sawyer's life. These people should be honored constantly, but accept praise by saying, "It's just my job!" Well, it's quite an incredible job, and one that changes and saves lives on a daily basis. They all mean so much to our family.
It was a really beautiful ceremony, and there wasn't a dry eye in the room when our actual nomination was read. Afterwards, Emma told everyone how she thought of Sawyer every day. His collage is near the staff break room, and she said she always pauses to say hello to him. She reminded us that we actually did experience some degree of success, even if we didn't get to take Sawyer home with us. . .we got to meet our little guy, to know his personality, to feel him hold our finger in his tiny hand, to see his eyes wide open and so inquisitive, to see him so active in his little isolette. She said that we shared something very special and she would never forget Sawyer either.