I don’t know your name. And I barely remember your face.

While I lay there devastated, you held my hand.

Just moments before, I was hit with the most heartbreaking news. My baby no longer had a heartbeat. So I had to be induced to deliver the baby.

It was February 17, 2011, and I was at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. As my eyes darted around the labour and delivery unit, I was filled with sadness.

The comfort in the cold was your warmth, your face, your touch.  I wish so much that I could remember your face—but it was a whirlwind of the worst kind. You listened to my cries. You talked to me, you gave me comfort. I know your shift was long past finished, but that didn’t matter to you.

You stayed with me. You were tasked with looking after me while I waited for the moment I had dreamed of—being in labour—but never at this point in my pregnancy.

You may have been a stranger at the time, but you changed my life. It would have been so easy and totally understandable for you to leave when your shift was over. But you truly cared for my well-being. You made the most awful time just a little bit easier.

While I lay there, truly devastated, you were like an angel.

I don’t remember the exact words that were spoken, but I remember how much your presence put me at ease. We talked about life, my son, and what it would be like after I went home.

You listened.

As I lay there fearing the unknown, you guided me through the process of delivering my baby boy. You went went way above and beyond what was required of you.

I’ll never forget you. All I remember about your physical appearance was that you had dark, curly hair.

And the most beautiful heart.

When I left the hospital the next day, I left with a new intention. I left knowing that I wanted to impact others the way you impacted me. I was so touched by your compassion and to this day, I am still moved by your grace.

I was heartbroken; I wasn’t prepared for a moment like this. It truly was one of my saddest days, but also something really beautiful happened. I realized how the smallest of gestures, which may not have seemed like much to you at the time, can truly change a person’s life.

I was so genuinely touched by your compassion it made me want to do the same for others.

Since that day, I have had five more pregnancies and given birth to three more beautiful children. It’s been a whirlwind of a wonderful and crazy kind all in one and I’m grateful everyday for my blessings. I am also grateful for you, my nurse with no name, because you awoke something in me that I will carry with me forever. 

Photo via Tracey Gairns Brioux

To live to inspire, live with grace, and live to impact.

A year ago, I started by my own business called reset:breathe fitness. I have been a pilates and fitness instructor for over a decade, and in that time have seen so many women (and men) put their own health and wellness on the backburner to look after others.  I wanted to make it easier for people to take time for themselves, so I started an online fitness and wellness community which now has a little over 200 people. My mission is to encourage clients to put their health first, to make themselves a priority, to embrace their awesome, and to work to be the best version of themselves they can be.

I wish I could call you and tell you how much you did for me. Sometimes we have no idea how a little compassion can literally change someone’s life. I’m sure you have no idea how much you changed mine.

I so strongly believe that I was meant to meet you that day.

The compassion you showed me cannot be taught; I will never forget that.