Couple Giving Back To Women Who Will Spend Mother's Day At Hospital
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A local couple is giving back to women who will spend Mother's Day at a local hospital in Los Angeles.
Jennifer Brandt was inspired to give back after she was touched by a nurse who went above and beyond the call of duty at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
It was 3 a.m. one morning back in February and Brandt recalls being exhausted.
"I remember sort of waking up and seeing him gently pick up Oliver," she said, referring to a nurse that picked up her second son, Oliver.
Just 4 months old at the time, he was staying at the hospital for surgery on a mass he was born with covering his chest and back.
"I rocked him and then he kind of like did the, 'shh, shh, shh' routine," said Herbert Kim, the nurse.
Kim had come in and offered to feed Oliver so Brandt could finally get some sleep.
He stayed there rocking him for over a half-hour.
"I was just mesmerized and still in that moment going, 'What? how lucky is that,' " she said.
Brandt, her husband, and son left the hospital the next day, so moved by the nurse who went above and beyond his job that they were determined to give back.
"We're lucky in so many different ways. One of them is that our son is going to be OK," said Peter Heilbron, Brandt's husband. "And when you come down here, sometimes you see kids that are not. That's tough."
The couple have started the #WeAreLucky campaign asking for $25 donations to provide some of the extras to families still in the hospital.
"Things like getting a Metro pass to get down here, maybe a gas card, help someone to make it here for Mother's Day," he said.
"I think, as a mom, the biggest thing that we can do on Mother's Day is to give to another mom," Brandt said.
During their stay, the couple was lucky enough to have friends, family, and a nanny to care for their older son, Jonah but saw that many families did not.
"We got to see in the recovery area, sadly how many children didn't have parents by their bedside," she said.
Brandt Friday got to see nurse Kim for the first time since Oliver's hospital stay in February.
He inspired them and now they're hoping to inspire others.
The #WeAreLucky campaign just launched Monday. Already, they've raised $20,000. To donate, click here. To follow Brandt's blog, Perfectly Disheveled, click here.
