Samantha Tsang, NICU Nurse
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital
Nominated by Carrie Anselmo

"Our son Logan was transferred to Lurie for a PDA surgery. When we made the decision to remain at Lurie for treatment of his severe BPD, we knew we were choosing the best place for his lungs, but we were also accepting a reality no parent imagines for their child, an extremely long NICU stay.

It was already our first Halloween as parents. Outside, it was snowing. Inside the NICU, I stood beside an isolette instead of walking my baby down a sidewalk. My husband was commuting back and forth at the time and couldn’t be there that day since he took off a few days before for surgery. I was a mother to a 24-week baby who had already endured surgeries, ventilators, setbacks, and fragile victories. I was grieving the motherhood I thought I would have, while trying to be strong for the one I was given.

We decided Logan would be Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Because that’s who he was. That’s who he is. Logan ended up being the last baby to be photographed that day. Samantha was our nurse. We didn’t yet have primary nurses assigned to us. She slowed down in a place where everything moves fast. She gently worked around wires and tubing, mindful of every line and monitor. She carefully placed each accessory as if she were dressing her own child. She drew his tiny lightning bolt scar with such tenderness and intention. She adjusted the blanket. She stepped back, then leaned in again to make sure it was just right.

In that moment, she didn’t just see a critically ill micro-preemie recovering from surgery. She saw my son. She saw me, a mother aching for a moment of normalcy, desperate for something joyful to hold onto. For a few minutes, I wasn’t calculating oxygen settings or staring at monitor numbers. I wasn’t bracing for the next difficult conversation. I was simply a mom smiling at her baby on his first Halloween.

She restored a piece of motherhood that felt like it had been taken from me. In the middle of fear and uncertainty, she created joy without condition. She reminded me that even in an intensive care unit, first holidays still matter. That celebration is still allowed. That hope can coexist with hardship. Everytime I look at those photos, I don't see wires or diagnoses. I see resilience. I see strength. I see the boy who lived. And I see the nurse who understood that healing is not only clinical, it is emotional, human, and deeply personal. Samantha’s impact extends far beyond that single day. She embodies the heart of NICU nursing, exceptional skill paired with profound compassion.

Samantha is deserving of the Jackson Chance Foundation OWL award not only for what she did that day, but for who she is every day. Nurses like her shape how families remember the hardest season of their lives. Because of her, our story includes joy alongside the most difficult of times. That is a rare and powerful gift , and it is one she gives through both her skill and her heart."