My husband became very ill. Neighbors came to help me get him to the car to go to the hospital, but he couldn't walk, so we called the rescue squad. As they were taking him out the door, he began throwing up "coffee ground" blood, so they immediately knew it was a GI bleed and therefore wanted to get him med flighted. Hurricane Helene was moving in, so they were not flying. He was taken to NCH. The ER doctor stabilized him, ran several tests, and sent him to the ICU. Bronson was the nurse who was assigned to him. From the beginning, I knew that he genuinely cared about us and what was going on. During the 6-day stay in the ICU, he was the night nurse on each shift. To say it was a roller coaster would be an understatement. He had to go through 3 endoscopies. After the first one, they decided to send him to a med-surg room, which I did not want. I could see the concern on Bronson's face with the decision. He had not been in the room for 30 minutes when he threw up bright red blood and was rushed back to surgery, where he almost died.

The doctor was finally able to stop the bleed, which turned out to be an artery in his stomach that had ruptured. After the surgery, he was taken back to the ICU and thankfully to Bronson. It was touch-and-go for several days. They kept him sedated and ready to be taken back to surgery at any time for a couple of days. My stress level was out of the roof. When Helene moved in and the hospital lost power, phone service, and internet service, it was like watching a movie play out. Everything had to be done on paper, and I could see how difficult that was, but he kept his cool through all of it. Bronson was like an angel. Through it all, he kept his calm composure and took the best care of my husband possible. I actually felt so much more confident that everything would be ok when he was there that I looked forward to shift change so I could see him again. He not only took care of my husband, but also politely answered my numerous questions and showed compassion beyond what would be expected. I noticed that he had several critically ill patients, and from what I observed, it was the same wonderful nurse with all of them. You could tell that he cared deeply for each of his patients and felt compassion for the family members. Thankfully, my husband got better and was released. Bronson is a one-of-a-kind nurse whom I will always remember and forever be grateful for. NCH should be proud to have him on their staff!