FW: Angel at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte , NC
Someone at Presbyterian told me Sunday at church about
this picture and how everyone at Presby is talking about it. I keep up
with a little girl who has cancer on Caringbridge and her mother posted
this on Ellie’s site today. It was sent to her to encourage them as they
fight for Elle’s life.
A couple of Wednesdays ago, I got an evening phone
call from the pediatric ICU at Presbyterian Hospital , where I work as a
child life specialist. Usually when they call at night, it means
something bad has happened. This, however, was different. My coworker
told me that the most amazing thing had just happened and she just had
to call to tell me.
We had a patient who has really grown up in and out of
the hospital. All the staff knows her and her family. She had been in
the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for about a month, and had been
intubated - on life support. She was not doing well. The doctors had
approached mom about taking her off life support the Saturday before.
Mom was okay with it, and said that she'd been through so much and if
was her time to go she wanted to honor that. So they had taken her off.
It was Wednesday and she was still alive. Amazing. The
doctors approached mom about taking off her oxygen mask. Mom was
supportive, and began praying over her daughter. The mother of another
young patient who was in the bed next to her began praying with her.
The nurse practitioner went to the nurses’ station to
chart that she had taken off the oxygen mask. While doing so, she looked
up at the security monitor that videotapes the double doors leading into
the PICU. It records anyone who may be waiting outside the doors to get
in since it is a secure unit. She saw a man standing there, and it
looked a little funny to her, so she decided to walk down the hall to
open the double doors personally. When she opened them, no one was
standing there.
She walked back down to the nurses station to finish
charting, assuming he had walked away, but saw him still standing there
on the monitor. So she opened the doors with a button near the nurses’
station and leaned over to see him walk in, but no one was standing
there.
She pulled over another nurse and both stood staring
at this man on the monitor and opening the doors to find no one there.
The nurse practitioner leaned in closely to look at the man on the
monitor and said, 'Oh my gosh. That's an angel. You can see his wings!'
They said that the sun starting shining so brightly
and the whole PICU was strangely filled with light. They said he was a
tall man and you could see wings behind him.
They pulled over all the staff of the PICU and the two
praying mothers and everyone was staring at this man on the monitor and
opening the doors to find no one there. Crying, everyone pulled out
their camera phones to take pictures, but no one could get it to show up
on their camera. The mother of the girl pulled out her camera phone and
finally got a picture of the angel who was guarding the doors to the
PICU. He turned out as a man of light. I have attached the picture from
her phone.
The girl was later discharged from the hospital to go
home.
A Miracle.
This story makes me so grateful for the way that God
reveals himself to us, and the how Great He is really is. We have much
to be thankful for this holiday.
