Honourable Mention

Lucia Pereira

Trillium Health Partners

I want to nominate my hero my mom Lucia Pereira Registered Nurse. All nurses are special but my mom has gone above and beyond the call of duty. I see how hard she works and with so much compassion and love for nursing. She loves her job. She has always wanted to be a nurse since she was 10 years old when she would go with her dad visit her sick mother in the hospital. She would watch and admire the nurses taking such good care of her and for that she was very grateful.

She started her nursing career in 1996, she currently works full time at Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga site, 100 Queensway West in the Intensive Care Unit for 22 years. When the pandemic started I was scared for her but she said she wasn’t afraid and wanted to help it was a call of duty she said. During the last two years she has been caring for critically ill covid patients needing life support, IV medications, proning and un proning and bedside dialysis. She goes out of her way to call and update worried family members and video calling so family can see their loved ones when they could not visit.

She purchases and bring hair brushes and hair ties for her female patients and shaves her male patients. She provides music therapy for her patients when appropriate. Her co workers adore and respect her. She is always early and prepared for her shifts and is always assigned students and new hires to train and mentor as she is so calm, patient and professional. She helps the unit and works extra shifts when they are short staffed.

When my grandfather became very sick with Covid it was very difficult for her. He was hospitalized for 10 days at her hospital and she could not visit. It was hard for my grandfather as he was isolated and scared. He begged her to take him home to die surrounded by his family. She brought him home on 6L of oxygen very weak and frail to palliate. She looked after him and my grandmother all while working full time. She helped him get stronger with medication and nutrition including vitamin and protein drinks. She did daily exercises with him and made sure he had all the safety equipment needed such as a shower chair and walker. Because of my moms loving care my grandfather improved and did not die. She weaned him off oxygen and even took him last summer on a trip to his homeland of Portugal one last time. He was lucky to have my mom his private nurse. He lasted one year and unfortunately died on December 12, 2021 from covid complications. She has been through a lot of emotional pain not only from losing her father but from seeing a lot of suffering and the loss of her patients to covid and other diseases. She says the hardest thing she has had to deal with is seeing her sick patients suffering alone without their families at the bedside. She spends as much time as she can holding her patients’ hands and giving them hope and comfort during difficult times.

In addition, she has the scars to prove it after having to deal with a bad case of cystic mask acne and needing a dermatologist to drain them to her lower face as a result of long hours (12 daily) donning and doffing masks and PPE. I believe my mom has gone above an beyond her call of duty and deserves to be nominated. She is my hero and I admire her and her profession. I am also following in her footsteps and am in my first year of Nursing BSCN at York University.

Nominated by:

Sarah Pereira