GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Sometimes, life's scariest moments can become life changing for the better. A West Michigan father found this out firsthand while watching his infant son fight for his life in the NICU.
Dec. 14 was Luca's birthday. It's a day Nathan will never forget.
"He was 38 weeks, so he was just a little early, had a planned C-section, and he came out with respiratory distress syndrome, so he was really just kind of struggling to breathe on his own and exchange gasses," Nathan explains.
Doctors sent Luca to the NICU, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
Nathan, a first-time father, was suddenly terrified for his son. What is intensive care? Will Luca survive?
"I was very scared in that moment," Nathan recalled.
Luca would spend a week under the careful watch of nurses. “It felt like an eternity at the time. I didn't know what was going on.”
Those delicate moments somehow turned Nathan’s fear into flight. What he witnessed was beyond inspiring, watching the nurses close care for his son.
"Just got really blessed with a really great nurse,” he says.
Her name was Sarah Sund. It was Luca's first nurse.
"Sarah just kind of made me feel at ease, made me feel comfortable, explained everything without all the confusing medical jargon," said Nathan.
She did it with gentle kindness and expert care.
"Our weeklong stay here opened up my eyes to a different world that I had never really known about," Nathan added.
And so a new purpose stirred within Nathan.
After Luca was released, Nathan made a pivot, leaving his career in private security for the medical world.
"The way that Sarah and the rest of the team here in the NICU took care of Luca, it just was like such a comforting feeling, and I just wanted to really be able to give that feeling back to other parents."
First he job-shadowed Sund, then he spent time with the unit secretary and medical assistant.
Sarah was impressed by Nathan's new passion for the world. “This was the first of somebody who had worked here or been here as a parent and then wanted to be on the other side of things,” Sarah said.
Nathan sang the nurse's praises. "The nurses are the backbone of this place," he said.
He’s now on his way to becoming a nurse at the Grand Valley Nursing Program.
Nathan’s goal after graduating is to be a NICU nurse in the same place that saved his son.
It's a decision Nurse Sund says reminds her of the importance of this job.
“I've always felt really privileged to be a part of, like, that side of things, that moment for parents, because it can be so scary, but now it's just a really cool reminder of the impact we can have and how rewarding it is."
Luca continues to improve every day. His father is grateful, proving how when one adapts to an unfavorable circumstance, the circumstance could be life changing and life saving.
"[I'm] looking forward to being able to provide, you know... give back to other families what the nurses gave to me here,” says Nathan. "This is where my heart's at."
Nathan is set to graduate next December and hopes to start soon after as a pediatric nurse at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
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