Olivia Neufelder is a “just” nurse— but to her patients, she’s an angel.
The 24-year-old works at the Vanderbilt University Hospital, comforting her patients in a myriad of ways. But for Olivia, kindness is a virtue, not something that comes with her career.
“You don’t have to be a nurse to show compassion for others,” she said in an interview with NewsChannel 5.
Last year, Olivia developed a strong bond with Margaret Smith, a patient who was battling liver cancer.
The 63-year-old had recently been diagnosed and was in the hospital awaiting a liver transplant. “She became a bit fearful during that time,” Olivia recalled.
“I just said ‘Hey Margaret, what’s your favorite song?'”
“And she said, ‘Oh, promise me you’ll sing it for me?'”
Olivia learned the words to Margaret’s favorite song, and every day, she would comfort the woman by kneeling over her bedside and singing her the words.
The song, ‘Dancing in the Sky’, is a single by the Canadian duo Dani and Lizzy. The lyrics describe themes of death, with emotional lines such as:
“Oh-oh, I,
I hope you’re dancing in the sky
And I hope you’re singing in the angel’s choir
And I hope the angels know what they have
I’ll bet it’s so nice up in heaven since you arrived”
Olivia’s presence and singing comforted Margaret during the tough times. “Just looking at her eyes when I would sing to her… She just wasn’t in the hospital anymore,” the nurse recalled.
Shortly thereafter, Margaret learned she wasn’t healthy enough for a transplant.
Olivia was heartbroken by the news. She knew the woman needed her comfort now more than ever.
“She needed me to sing to her at that time,” she said.
In a heart-wrenching video recorded by Margaret’s friend Crystal Roberts, you see the nurse serenading Margaret shortly before her death.
Margaret had often told Crystal about an angel who sang to her, but her friend thought “the angel she was seeing was something that was just in her head. Later, when Crystal saw the way Olivia cared for her patient, it finally all made sense.
Since being uploaded to social media, Crystal’s heartbreaking video has been viewed over 3 million times.
The description reads: “This is another video of the greatest and sweetest nurse ever.”
“Ms. Olivia, she would sing this to Margaret whenever Margaret asked her. Never would Olivia ever say give me a minute, I would but I don’t have time.”
“If all nurses would take the time and care for patients like Ms. Olivia, I believe we would see a lot more healing!” she wrote.
Sadly, Margaret passed away a few days after the video was recorded.
Afterward, Olivia said: “Miss Marg has touched my heart in such an indescribable way. I am so humbled and honored to be a nurse. My thoughts and prayers are forever with this amazing family.”
See the emotional moment below.
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