MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at Hidden Brain. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from Teresa Hernandez. In January 2020, Teresa was 33 weeks pregnant. One morning, she had a strange feeling about her baby, so she decided to go to the hospital and make sure everything was OK. When she got there, she and her husband learned that the baby's heart rate was dropping. Her doctor told her the baby needed to be delivered that day by C-section.
TERESA HERNANDEZ: And when she said that, I was, like, in complete shock. I said, like, but he's too little. And she said, yes, but if he's inside, I won't be able to help him if something goes wrong. So they rushed me to the OR. And I started thinking, like, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to have this C-section. And I started, like, having, like, a panic attack, having difficulty to breathe. And this nurse, she took my hand, and I started squeezing her hand. And then she hold me while they were doing the epidural, and she started, like, rubbing my back. And then I think she placed one hand on my cheek, and she started, like, humming. And I felt like my mom was there holding me. When your mom is there - it doesn't matter how old you are, but if you're going through something difficult, when your mom is there, you feel protected. You feel like you can do it. Like, you feel like everything is going to be right. And that's what I felt with her. There were a lot, a lot of unsung heroes that experience, but she was the first one and the one that has, like - I have a really special memory. And I'm really, really thankful for her, for what she did that day for me.
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KELLY: That is Teresa Hernandez of Allen, Texas. Her baby, Luca (ph), was born on January 8, 2020. He spent five weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Plano, Texas. Teresa tells us Luca is now doing great. You can find more stories like this one on the "My Unsung Hero" podcast.
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