TAMPA, FLA. (WSVN) - A couple whose baby was in a Florida Neonatal Intensive Care Unit(NICU) flew back down from Kansas City for a reunion with the nurse that cared for their baby, but this would be no ordinary visit—rather a celebration of love as the nurse was tying the knot.
In 2022, Kansas City residents Ken and Elizabeth Smith were at a football game when they received the call that they had been waiting for, their baby boy who they would name Rhett arrived early.
“So we’re at a tailgate,” said Elizabeth. “They were like, ‘Guess what? Your baby is here.”
“The entire parking lot was cheering,” Ken added. “Five weeks early.”
“Our friends were crying and we were crying,” said Elizabeth.
The couple drove all the way to Tampa to meet their new baby boy who was in the NICU, where they would meet nurse Gabby Chandler.
“She was just constantly coming to our room asking if we needed anything,” said Ken. “She’d come to give him his baths instead of the nurse that should be doing them.”
During that time the Smiths and Chandler began to form a special bond.
“Gabby really was just kind of like my sanity, she was just the calm that we needed to get us through,” said Elizabeth.
Chandler even volunteered to watch baby Rhett after he was discharged to help the couple.
“She would come over and babysit so we could sleep,” said Ken.
“She’s really a special part of our lives,” added Elizabeth.
That bond was so special that Chandler was invited to Kansas City for Rhett’s first birthday.
“They used to call him like, I was his first girlfriend and things like that so they were like, ‘if you’re not getting married to him, we’re going to be at your wedding,” said Chandler.
Life came full circle, when Chandler got married earlier this year and Rhett was in attendance with a special role.
“I made their daughter Madison one of my bridesmaids and I made Rhett my ring bearer,” said Chandler. “It was a full circle moment for both of us. We both really enjoyed having him, the whole family in our wedding.”
The families continue to look forward to making new memories together.
“We were supposed to take a trip up there in July, but then I got pregnant so we have to figure that out,” said Chandler. “It’s nice to see the rewarding outcome that if you treat the family like you would treat your own.”
Chandler hopes that one day her child will grow a close bond with Rhett as well.
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