As Linda was leaving work after a 12-hour shift in a very busy ED, she spotted a doctor tending to a man on the side of tunnel road. He was lying partly in the road and on the grass. Linda didn't have to stop, but she did to see if she could help. The doctor told her the man was a veteran she had discharged from the hospital earlier in the day. The doctor apparently spotted the man while on her way home and stopped to help him. The veteran was ok but didn't have a way to get home. The veteran didn't want to go back to the VA, he just wanted to go home. They tried to make other attempts to find out what can be done for this veteran. After many calls, it was determined the man couldn't be forced to come back to the VA, however, they knew they couldn't leave him there on the side of the road. Later, the veteran was placed in a cab, his cab fare paid, and sent home safely. The next day, there was a call placed to the veteran to ensure he was home safely and he was. This patent had been diagnosed with cancer; he had been in the hospital a few days and just wanted to go home.
These individuals made that happen for him. Linda did not have to stop that evening after working a long day but she did for this veteran and a fellow VA employee. The veteran could have been left there and potentially gotten run over by a car, or left all night in the cool weather, but he wasn't. Instead they thought through the best solution for the veteran and getting a responsible person to take this veteran home safely was the best thing, and that is what they did. This incredible act of kindness should not go unnoticed. She did not hesitate to do the right thing for this veteran, she didn't take into consideration the danger she could have put herself in, but instead her thoughts were about the veteran, her coworker, and doing what was best. Isn't that what it should be about: helping the veteran, helping each other, doing the best job we can for the men and women who gave so much for all of us? This facility, this world needs more people doing what these individuals did that night. This was extraordinary and compassionate care, and is what the DAISY Award is all about.