Patricia C. suffered third-degree burns over 30 percent of her body when her home blew up on Dec. 23, 2008.

“Everything happened so fast,” Tim said. “We went straight to the hospital from the airport, and we met Marilyn Loudenslager at the front desk. She was so helpful. She directed us to the Burn Unit, where one of the nurses said she had already contacted Home Away From Home on our behalf, to arrange for us to have a place to stay. After we saw my mom, we needed to go take care of some things at her house. I asked Marilyn to recommend a taxi service, but she said a taxi would be expensive, so she offered to drive us there and back as soon as she got off of work.”

Back at the hospital, Tim and his son met an employee from Pastoral Care, who escorted them to Home Away From Home.

“She was just the sweetest woman in the world,” Tim said. “She came to the Burn Unit to take me and my son up to Home Away from Home. She showed us the beautiful room they had ready for us and then showed us where the chapel was and took us over to see Life Flight since that was how Mom had come to the hospital. We met one of the medics from her flight, and he gave my son a Life Flight T-shirt, hat and teddy bear. He was just thrilled with that.”

Tim and Timmy spent almost two weeks at St. V’s with Patricia.

“Everyone was incredibly nice,” Tim said. “Mom’s nurses were amazing. They provided her with excellent care and were so kind to me and my son and respectful of the fact that we were from out of town. At one point, we had to hold a news conference so the media would stop contacting me and my sister, and the hospital’s PR staff was so helpful with that. A security guard named Lucy Oliver brought all kinds of food up to Home Away from Home for us and gave us tickets for free meals in the cafeteria. And, on Christmas morning, I got a phone call asking us to come down to the front desk because ‘Santa came.’ We went down there, and there were presents for my son.”

Tim said he had been worried about not having any gifts for Timmy.

“This was about to be the worst Christmas of my life,” he said. “My Mom was injured and in the hospital, and I’d had to borrow money from a buddy just so we could fly up on such short notice. I hadn’t had time and didn’t have money to go shopping for my son. It was a definitely a low point in my life. And then, to discover someone at the hospital had gotten us gifts … words cannot describe how deeply that touched my heart. Marilyn had chatted with us when she’d given us a ride the day we arrived, and she had picked up on my son’s love of cars and had gotten him two remote-controlled cars. It just meant the world to us.”

Tim reports that Patricia is progressing very well. She spoke for the first time since her accident on Feb. 5 and ate on her own on Feb. 6. She has since walked and been released into a rehabilitation facility thanks to the great care provided by St. V’s staff.

“Mom was in the best place she could be,” Tim said. “Of course I wish she had not been hurt to begin with, but I feel very fortunate that St. V’s was there to take care of her. Everyone there is good at their job, and nearly everyone we met was also exceptionally compassionate and caring. They have an exemplary attitude and provide the ideal environment for healing. They treated me and my son with complete selflessness and respect, and I feel very privileged to have had my mom in that hospital.”