May 2013
Sandra
Hoover
,
RN, BSN
Intermediate Care
University Medical Center Brackenridge
Austin
,
TX
United States
Recently, I was walking into the hospital and I fell in the parking garage. Sandra was driving out of the parking garage and saw me fall. She came running to me and asked what happened. I told her my legs gave out and I fell. She suggested we go to the Emergency Department (ED) and get checked out but I told her I did not want to go because I had been there twice in the last few weeks and was too embarrassed to go back. I told her that I just wanted to sit for a while and get my bearings and she said she would sit with me. My wrist was hurting very much and Sandra convinced me to go to the ED. She took me by the elbow and put her other arm around my waist to steady me as we hobbled into the building. She exhibited so much kindness, respect, and empathy that she put me at ease and helped me not feel so anxious and embarrassed about going to the ED. It was obvious she had just finished her shift and was going home yet she saw me fall and came running to my aide. She was my guardian angel that morning. One or two weeks later, we ran into each other in the lobby on the 2nd floor. She came up to me and hugged me and asked me how I was doing. She said she had been thinking about me and hoped I was doing okay. She is truly a God send.