Touched by an angel; woman gets more than what she asks for
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Tricia Somers claims to have seen an angel.
It happened not long after she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and admitted to the Pinnacle Health Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
She was recovering from a procedure there when in walked a nurse.
"Before she even said anything, I just felt comfort. It was almost like someone just put a warm blanket on me," said Somers. "I've never felt anything like that before or any other connection with anybody else."
That angel's name was Tricia, too - Tricia Seaman. Seaman has worked as a nurse at Pinnacle Health Hospital for 14 years.
"I really enjoy the job. I like it a lot," said Seaman.
And although she's been praised by many, no patient has ever given her a greater compliment than Somers did.
That happened on a subsequent trip to the hospital - on the day the single mom with an 8-year-old son named Wesley, found out she might not see his 9th birthday. Her cancer was terminal.
"I mean what do you say to somebody? She's 45 years old. So I just gave her a hug," said Seaman.
And Somers said Seaman, "'Well, I'm really glad you stopped in because I didn't think that I would get to see you again and I have something that I need to ask you'."
Somers said she just blurted it out asking Seaman: "'Can you take my son? Will you raise him if I die?'"
And she was completely serious. Somers didn't know Seaman that well.
"No, she was a stranger," said Somers.
It was just a gut feeling.
Somers' ex-husband, Wesley's dad, was pretty much out of the picture and she says she had no other family to turn to, which is why she asked her nurse - who, after consulting with her family, agreed - not only to take in Wesley, but his mom too.
Since May they've been living with the Seamans - Tricia, her husband Dan, and their 4 children.
"We love her... It's like another mom. And I think he loves us as much as we love him," said Seaman's kids.
Without the generosity of Seaman's family, Somers would have had to spend her final days in a nursing home and who knows what would have happened to her son.
"They needed to be together." said Seaman.
Even though it was more than what Somers asked for, Seaman said, "It is, but that's what we're supposed to do - more than we're asked." She was referring to both as nurse and as a person.
An angel would know.
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