Nurses at Birmingham VA Health Care System reunite Veteran with missing daughter
Three nurses from the Birmingham VA Health Care System went above and beyond the call of duty when they encountered a young female outside the building that needed their help.
Markiyah “Meme” Barron, Stephanie Christian, and Elonda Hendley, nurses in the community care department, were informed there was a young adult female sitting in a flower pot outside the building facing the wall, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants during the heat of summer in July. Meme and Stephanie went outside together to check on the girl and offered her water.
“When I saw her, I knew she was young and my intuition told me to help her,” said Meme. “As a mother myself, the first thing I thought of was that this is somebody’s child.”
After giving her water, the nurses asked if they could do anything to help her. Without making any eye contact, the girl asked them if they could call her dad and tell him that she is okay. About that time, Elonda went outside to assist the other nurses and was able to provide a pen and paper to write down the phone number.
“I called the number and when a man picked up, I told him there is a girl outside and she wants me to tell you these exact words, ‘tell my dad that I’m okay’,” said Meme. “I gave him her name and asked if he knew her and he said ‘yes, that’s my daughter that has been missing’.”
Shocked by that statement, Meme told him where she was located and not even 30 minutes later from the outskirts of town, the dad reunited with his daughter after not seeing her for several months.
“We’ve been looking for her since March,” the dad said. “I haven’t been able to eat or sleep since she’s been gone and it has taken a toll on me because I didn’t even know if she was alive.”
The father of seven said his daughter’s mother passed away ten years ago and she has since struggled with mental health issues.
“I’m grateful these nurses showed concern and went to see about her or she would probably still be missing,” he said. “They are angels.”
After that day, the nurses made sure to follow up with the father and daughter. Coincidently, the girl’s father is an Army and Air Force Veteran that receives care at the Birmingham VA. Since then, BVAHCS has reached out to provide the Veteran with resources.
“Sometimes that’s all it takes is just seeing about someone and taking the time to show that you care,” said Elonda.