A Father’s Gratitude, A Son’s Fight
- Author: Brandon B.
- Location: Barstow, CA
- Date Submitted: Feb 28, 2025
““There’s nothing I won’t do for them. That’s how much they mean to us,” he says, “they mean the world, because they gave me the world back.””
After serving in the U.S. Army for nine years, Brandon was settling into his civilian role with the Department of Defense, but things quickly changed. Heading into work, Brandon was involved in devastating car accident that left him with multiple life-threatening injuries.
Brandon was brought into the emergency department as a trauma patient suffering from a brain bleed, a fractured skull, collapsed lungs, broken ribs, and damage to vital organs. His parents, Steve and Sherry, flew from Seattle to California, not knowing what was to come. “There was no diagnosis, they just gave us a laundry list of everything that was going on with him,” Steve recalls.
Brandon was kept sedated for weeks in the ICU, due to every attempt to ease him out of sedation caused him unbearable pain. During his time in the ICU, three nurses, Anna, Christian, and Melina, became a lifeline for Brandon and his parents. “They are the ones that lived the tragedy with us on a day-to-day basis,” Steve says, “They were there during his (Brandon’s) worst episode.”
As his body recovered, Brandon was able to leave the ICU and eventually transitioned out of the hospital to an outpatient recovery center. Despite his extensive injuries, Brandon
fought through it and is now on the road to recovery. Today, he’s back at work on light duty, living independently, and reclaiming his life.
Though thankful for the doctors, it was the nursing team that left a lasting impression on Steve. “The nurses are heaven sent. What saved us was the care of the nurses and the support staff,” Steve boasts. “All the nurses, on all the levels that we were at, were very phenomenal.”
Months after Brandon was discharged, Steve wanted Brandon to meet the nurses that changed things for them, Anna, Christian and Melina. “I wanted them to meet Brandon and to see their hard work,” Steve mentions. For Steven and his wife, these three nurses weren’t just part of Brandon’s care team, they became more, “There’s nothing I won’t do for them. That’s how much they mean to us,” he says, “they mean the world, because they gave me the world back.”
