Nurse Helps Terminally Ill Man Meet Newborn Great-Granddaughter
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VOORHEES TOWNSHIP, N,J. (CBS) -- A new mom in Atlantic County, New Jersey, is thanking hospital staff for helping her terminally ill grandfather meet her new daughter.
CBS News reports Joy Caitlyn Phero gave birth to her daughter, Chloe May, at Virtua Voorhees Hospital last week. Her beloved "pop-pop" was just four floors above her when she gave birth.
Phero's grandfather, Charles "Buck" Marshall, was in the hospital because he is battling complications from terminal pancreatic cancer, she told CBS News. "He was on the 7th floor and me and Chloe were on the 3rd floor," Phero said.
The new mom said it was her biggest fear that her pop-pop would not be able to meet his great-granddaughter. Then a nurse named Randi found a way to make Phero's dream become a reality.
"On June 1st 2018 I gave birth to my beautiful daughter Chloe May Kubat and on June 3rd 2018, your staff at Virtua Hospital of Voorhees went above and beyond to allow this to happen," Phero wrote in a Facebook post thanking the hospital. She shared a video of a nurse wheeling baby Chloe's incubator over to her grandfather. He was lying in his hospital bed and Chloe was laying in hers, right by his side.
Phero walked over to her pop-pop's bedside and gave him a hug. "In his words, his life is now complete just because of this moment. I'm so grateful that you gave us this opportunity," Phero wrote in the post. "You don't understand how much it meant for him just to be able to look at her," she said, tagging the hospital in her "thank you."
Phero says her pop-pop is now "at home now living out his last days with his family." His final days were made special by the hospital staff that helped connect three generations of family.
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