Slade Thompson, 5 at the time, hadn't had the easiest year. He had gone went to the UPMC Susquehanna hospital in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for his second surgery of 2019. His latest visit was to have his tonsils removed.
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Slade's mom, Layla, waited nervously in the waiting room while her son underwent his procedure. She was so anxious for him and just wanted him to feel safe and cared for. Needless to say, she couldn't wait to get him out of the hospital and back home to the comfort of his own bed.
When Slade woke up from the surgery, the team of nurses had to check his vitals before they could allow Layla into his room.
One of his nurses, Annie Hager, RN, told Slade it wasn't quite time for his mom to be there with him — and that's when he asked her for a favor.
When Layla walked into Slade's hospital room, she saw something that moved her so much that she had to take a photo to capture the moment. After the image was shared on Facebook, it set the internet on fire with thousands of views.
"As a nurse, providing care is one thing, but making sure our patients are calm and comfortable matters just as much," the staff at UPMC wrote on Facebook. "It’s nurses like Annie — who show true compassion — that keep our patients happy."
