Jessica Perez, 32
Working yet another night shift as a transplant nurse, I could barely keep my eyes open – if anything, the ward was completely overwhelming.
Surrounded by individuals who were very sick, often in the recovery process after experiencing extensive injuries to their bodies, it was incredibly hard to see – but a rewarding process at the same time, too.
Having worked in organ preparation for five years before becoming a nurse in Ohio, US, I’d seen both sides of the treatment.
Meeting donor families on what was potentially the worst day of their life, I knew just how much a donation meant to individuals – for some it meant that they could get their lives back on track after disaster had struck.
Only, after witnessing the trauma of patients first-hand, especially one individual who had a face transplant, I had one thought…
‘I don’t know if I could be with someone like that,’ I admitted to another colleague on shift with me.
‘How could you say that?’ she snapped back, with a feisty personality.
‘Oh OK, I’m sorry – you love who you love, I guess,’ I quickly interjected.
It may have seemed like a shallow comment, but it was true – I just couldn’t imagine it.
‘Have you seen this?’ my nursing professor asked, sending me a press release from NYU Langone Health Hospital in February 2021.
Opening the message on my phone, while
