Faith in humanity restored.
Last month, Olivia Neufelder, a nurse from Nashville, Tennessee, showed an immense amount of compassion and love to one of her dying patients. Margaret Smith, a 63-year-old woman suffering from liver cancer, was rushed to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center due to her declining health issues related to the cancer. She has been suffering from the disease for about a year and was on the list for a liver transplant, but doctors told her she was too weak and, therefore, wouldn’t be able to survive the transplant.
As Smith laid in her bed suffering, Neufelder decided to do all she could to make the patient feel better.
She stayed by Smith’s side for hours while the anesthesia wore off. She decided to sing Smith her favorite song, “Dancing in the Sky” by Dani and Lizzy. As she sang Smith the song, she couldn’t contain her emotions. She sang the song beautifully while holding Smith’s hand with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Crystal Roberts, a friend of Smith, recorded Neufelder singing to Smith. After Smith’s daughter Megan put the video of the heartwarming moment on Facebook, it received an incredible amount of support and more than 2.7 million views. Neufelder was extremely touched by the support she received from the online community on the video and said that this was definitely a life-changing experience for her.
“Words cannot describe the appreciation and love we feel for nurse Olivia, who Mom calls her angel,” Megan Smith wrote on Facebook on Oct. 23.
“Your dedication to your patients is beyond any that I have seen. You truly are a beam of light and I cannot thank you enough for the compassion and care and love you shared for my mother.”
In addition to that, Roberts told WFTV: “I would love her and hug her and we’ll be friends with her forever.” The family and friends of Margaret Smith are truly in awe of Olivia Neufelder and hope that they will keep in touch.
Neufelder is happy that she was able to offer Smith some comfort during her dying days.
“I recently lost my grandmother and went through a similar experience and I was singing to her as she passed, too. Margaret really has helped me more than she knows,” Neufelder told WFTV. “There was almost a sense of peace knowing that it was her favorite song and she did tell me it’s the song she wants played at her funeral. She didn’t feel like a patient at that time.
“I wanted her to know that she was loved even if her family wasn’t able to be there.”
Smith was eventually transferred to a nursing home in Cookeville, and she passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
“More than anything Margaret loved people, loved life, and loved the Lord,” Roberts said.
Smith leaves behind a son and a daughter that are in their early 20s. The children set up a GoFundMe account to help with final expenses. The donation account has also received a lot of support, with more than 150 people raising money so far and more than 850 shares on Facebook. The funeral was held on Friday, Oct. 27, at The Potters House Church in Celina, Tennessee.
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Sources: Megan Smith, WHO-TV
