My family and I recently visited my father at your facility. My dad suffered from a massive stroke (though we didn't know it at the time) and was rushed to your ER from Casa Grande to be assessed/admitted. When I first arrived and was allowed to see my dad, he was still alert and recognized me and he was still verbal. However, he was very confused and couldn't think of the words he wanted to say. I knew this was serious but didn't know just how until his symptoms worsened very quickly as he was finally transported to the neuro unit. We now know after getting his second round of CTs that his brain was bleeding right then. 

We were introduced to Mark Hansen and Chris Copploe, the charge nurse and my dad's RN for that night. They clearly knew what they were doing and helped my dad down for his second CT. My dad was very agitated at this point, so it took longer than they had estimated. We then waited for the results. We knew it was bad when the doctor wanted to speak to us directly, and his shift was already over. After the doctor delivered the news that the left side of my dad's brain was basically dead tissue and there were no treatments, so we turned to focus on the end of life. 

My mom and I passed Chris in the corridor as we returned to Dad's room, and he asked if we needed anything. Without thinking, I asked if there was any way we could bring my dad's dog to visit him briefly. I assumed I'd hear a quick 'no'. Chris quickly stood up and said he had one person to ask, he was back within 30 seconds and said yes, we could bring her in. We immediately started crying, and my husband and I ran to fetch her from our home.

E is my dad's 6-year-old dog. He saved her from parvo when she was a puppy by sleeping with her and giving her IV fluids at home. Both of my parents are retired nurses. Dad cared for her round the clock and would still tear up talking about it 5 years later. He is obsessed with her. E was the only one home with my dad when he first was suffering from his stroke, my mom happened to be visiting my brother in Las Vegas and dad was home alone with E. He managed to get to a neighbor's home in his confused state, but none of us knew exactly what happened. What we do know is that E was with him, no doubt very scared. When my husband went to pick her up to bring her to our home, he said she was very distraught. We are all pretty obsessed with our pets, and as a family, we always say that if something happens to us, we want our pets to see us so they don't think they were abandoned. I so wanted these two best friends to have some kind of closure before my dad left us. 

Mark had been in our room several times at this point, and we shared that my parents were nurses and my dad was also a musician. He was so compassionate and said he had recently been through something similar with his own father. He told us to let him know when we returned with E, and he'd meet us downstairs. As soon as I let my brother know we'd arrived, Mark hurried down to greet us and lead us up via the patient elevator with E. 

By the time we got E in the room, my dad had been unconscious and unresponsive. He had lost movement on his right side and was very agitated on his left side, moving his arm and leg a lot. We brought E to his left side and brought his hand down to feel her face, and his reaction was so big that he immediately knew to pet her like he had hundreds of times before. We all balled like crazy as these two best friends said goodbye. 

My family and I wanted to recognize Mark and Chris for their amazing care. That one act of kindness gave a heartbroken family a chance to send their beloved patriarch off, truly surrounded by his loved ones.