My husband was in a motorcycle crash and brought to ORMC. He had primarily head/facial trauma with slight road rash in other places. Knowing his brain injury was a DAI and in multiple areas of the brain. Being a medical assistant, I knew the odds were not in his favor.
Kristina McCormick was one of his first nurses. She brought me comfort when I was hating every second of life knowing he only had a 10% chance. All his nurses were kind, but I felt she went the extra mile to keep me calm and distracted. Also, while handling his care in the ICU she was very diligent and compassionate. She tried everything she could keep the swelling in his brain and his lungs functioning as much as she could.
As his lungs began to fail him in his final days, he had to be put in a RotoProne bed which helped his lungs the first day but not enough. During his last days on this Earth, we had no idea it would be his last. Kristina was not his nurse but stopped by to see how he was doing, how I was holding up, and if there was anything I needed. Shortly after, he was going into full respiratory failure and as I was trapped in the corner watching my husband being worked on by multiple nurses and doctors, Kristina noticed me stuck in the corner crying my eyes out. She removed me from the room and placed me in the waiting room. The attending trauma doctor explained they have done everything they could and that it was not practical to continue manually trying to get his lungs to work.
I came back to the room while they continued manually a little longer. He was then put back on the respirator as I stood by his side until his final heartbeat. During his last moments, Kristina stayed by my side and continued to attempt to bring me some type of comfort. He just turned 29 two weeks prior and we have a 3-year-old together. When he is older, and I have to explain this story, Kristina's name is one I will never be able to forget how thankful I am to have someone keep me together during the worst time in my life.