‘A gift to do this job’; Carle event reunites nurses and former patients

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) – It was a reunion five years in the making. Carle Hospital brought back a trick or treat event with a deeper meaning.

“It was definitely a long journey — a lot of long days, long nights,” NICU dad Devan Fox said.

He and his wife, Miranda, know the Carle NICU all too well. Seven years ago, their triplets, Harper, Violet and Levi, were born 16 weeks early. They all weighed less than two pounds.

“We spent 103 days at the NICU,” Fox said.

The triplets are now second grade students. But for a few hours in Urbana, they were Power Rangers.

NICU nurses and staff decked out their cars for the kids they cared for years ago. It reunited families like the Fox’s with staff like Sandy Ater.

“I feel like I have been given a gift to do this job,” Ater said. “The little guys aren’t going to remember the nurses. Parents do and then they tell them, ‘This is the nurse that took care of you.’”

Ater has been a NICU nurse for 47 years. Through the tears and smiles, she’s with families every step of the way.

“Sometimes things don’t go quite like we want them to go, but we’re going to work and do our best to make sure we get that baby home,” Ater said.

She’s seen thousands of babies grow into toddlers, teens and adults. It’s something she wouldn’t change for the world.

“These babies are the most important, and to be able to have a little hand in that is wonderful,” Ater said.

Dozens of families went car to car reconnecting with staff and families who have been through a similar journey — one full of highs and lows.

“There’s good days and bad days, but I think it’s nice we can be a beacon to those families who are going through the same thing we did seven years ago and show them the light at the end of the tunnel they can get to,” Fox said.

Ater said the unit has grown from six beds to 45 in the time she’s been there. For her, it’s beyond rewarding to care for the over 600 NICU babies Carle treats every year.

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