A Chance Encounter Leads To A Heart Warming Reunion
Brandon, one of our pediatric residents, was born 28 years ago in our NICU--then just 29 weeks old. Vilma was his primary care nurse. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and Vilma recognized Brandon’s name while he was rounding at our hospital. What a memory!
Almost three decades ago, a California nurse named Vilma Wong had to care for a preterm baby… something she did a lot of in the NICU. Fast forward 28 years to August 2018 at Stanford University where second-year pediatric resident Brandon Seminatore joined Wong’s team to complete a child neurology residency.
“I asked who he was and his name, and last name sounded very familiar,” Wong said in a statement. “I kept asking where he was from, and he told me that he was from San Jose, California, and that, as a matter of fact, he was a premature baby born at our hospital.”
Could she be the nurse who cared for him in the NICU? It’s not farfetched.
“I asked him if his dad was a police officer,” she said. “And there was a big silence, and then he asked me if I was Vilma, I said yes.”
Even Seminatore’s mom told him to ask about a nurse named Vilma when he went to do his residency. You can imagine their excitement and amazement upon hearing that their son was on the nurse’s team who helped him get where he is today! (They even sent that picture of Vilma holding him as a baby!)
“I needed an incubator to keep me warm, a ventilator to help me breath, and had near endless pokes and prods to make sure I was healthy and growing appropriately,” said Seminatore. “Meeting Vilma was a surreal experience. I never expected to meet a provider who took care of me when I was a baby.”
Such a powerful story! It just goes to show how valuable and tender care can be in the face of adversity. No matter how stacked the odds may seem against preterm babies, nurses like Vilma Wong are so crucial to their success in life, from day one or year twenty-eight!
Original article by theheartysoul
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