A nurse who traveled from Rhode Island to New York to help out during the coronavirus pandemic is lifting spirits with a sweet story about one of her patients. “Today was a beautiful day,” Taylor Campbell shared on Facebook. “My intubated patient who has been squeezing my hand for the last several days finally was strong enough to get extubated.” As soon as she was taken off the ventilator, the patient mouthed her first words in weeks to Campbell: I love you. “My heart exploded. I started to sob in the room,” Campbell continued. “Tears were running into my N95 mask as I stood there and held her hand. It was a beautiful moment.” Campbell says that she had been taking care of the woman for a little more than 2 weeks and that she was on a ventilator the entire time. “I asked her if she heard me talking to her for the last 15 days and she said yes. She is very fatigued but manages to give me a thumbs up and continues to try and mouth words. She wants me in the room constantly to hold her hand and I have been spending a lot of time in there with her today.” Campbell concluded her sweet story saying that her contract with Metropolitan Hospital in New York was up, so she wouldn’t be returning to work there. “I am just thankful that on day 21 I had this experience with my patient,” she shared. “I feel my purpose of coming here was to save her life.” The nurse’s Facebook post has been shared more than 125,000 times, and it even caught actor Mark Wahlberg’s eye. The star shared Campbell’s story on his fan page, thanking her for her compassion during such a difficult time. Source
