Nurse Discovers New Doctor Was Premature Baby She Cared for 28 Years Ago
You truly never know. The quiet care and compassion you show today could sustain and shape someone’s entire future.
Many of us never give this a second thought, but maybe we should. Because in fact, certain choices and actions could literally make an impact for generations to come.
Consider this single statistic from the World Health Organization, for example. It’s estimated that every year, roughly 15 million babies are born prematurely.
All these preterm births are at risk for life-endangering complications. That’s where neonatal intensive care unit nurses come in.
Skilled NICU nurses like Vilma Wong pour their hearts into patient care during every single shift. But recently, 54-year-old Wong was rather stunned to realize one of her connections had actually come full-circle.
According to Metro UK, Wong has spent the past 32 years working at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California. Not long ago, she ran across the name of a young new doctor on the staff roster.
She re-read the moniker “Brandon Seminatore,” and it seemed oddly familiar. At first, though, she wasn’t quite able to place it.
Then it gradually began dawning on her. Wong remembered taking care of a tiny baby with the very same name, when he was delivered prematurely at only 26 weeks.
The name was unique enough that it really started to make her wonder. “I got very suspicious,” Wong said to Metro UK.
So Wong didn’t hesitate when she met Seminatore face-to-face. “I asked him if his dad was a police officer,” she explained, recalling a bit about wee baby Brandon’s circumstances.
“There was a big silence,” Wong continued, “and then he asked me if I was Vilma.”
As it turns out, 28-year-old Seminatore is completing his residency at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. He’s also specializing in child neurology.
“When Vilma recognized my name,” Seminatore said, “I remembered the photos my parents had shown me and it truly sunk in that I was one of these babies.”
Seminatore was even able to produce a faded old photo showing Wong cradling him as a tiny preemie.
“Apparently, his mother asked him to look for nurse Vilma in the NICU,” an astonished Wong explained. “But he told his mom that I had probably retired by now.”
Wong described herself as “overjoyed” to know this tiny baby grew up and followed a path similar to her own.
Seminatore said he “never expected to meet a provider who took care of me when I was a baby.” But he’s extremely grateful and gratified to realize how things turned out.
As the young doctor proudly observed, “I’m taking care of babies with the nurse who took care of me.”
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