Courtney Snorek takes care of some of Gundersen Health System’s smallest patients. She’s one of four respiratory therapists part of Gundersen’s Neonatal Transport Team. They bring babies – as young as 22 weeks – from outlying hospitals to Gundersen’s NICU. The team, originally made up of nurse practitioners and respiratory therapists, recently began transitioning from NPs to RNs – for more immediate mobilization.
When Courtney gets a page, she has 30 minutes to get to the hospital (if she’s not already there working), gather supplies and be ready to hop into either GundersenAIR or an ambulance and head out to the Region.
“We take our isolette that has an incubator, ventilator, monitor and two bags – one for the RN supplies and one for the RT supplies,” says Courtney.
And there’s something else she always brings with her – a necklace made from her son, Henry.
“He knows I fly to help babies. He thinks I’m a superhero,” says Courtney.
‘It’s pretty cool that a child can recognize the work we do here is really amazing’
Henry, now six years old, made his first necklace three years ago. The then-toddler would watch his mom return home from work tired and sad, due to the stress and ambiguity of the pandemic. Henry started stringing beads together to bring joy to his mom and fellow RNs and RTs, or in his eyes, her friends at work.
“In the early days of the pandemic, we’d sit outside together on Gundersen’s campus and Henry would thank employees for their hard work,” Courtney says. “It’s pretty cool that a child can recognize the work we do here is really amazing."
‘Smile brightly’
On every necklace, Henry includes the phrases ‘Have a wonderful day,’ Smile brightly,’ and ‘Be happy.’ He also adds a heart and a bead with an ‘H’ on it for Henry.
“I started delivering his necklaces to the team in the ICU and from there, word just started to spread,” Courtney said. The kindergartener has now made more than 200 necklaces, which have been lovingly dubbed "Henry Necklaces."
“We have more beads than you can imagine,” Courtney says.
The mother-son duo sits together at their six-foot craft table in the kitchen where they string necklaces for Gundersen’s superheroes. And when those real-life heroes are called to help some of our smallest patients, they do so with the encouragement and inspiration of a special token from Henry.
“I’m happy I’m raising a good human,” says Courtney. “That’s more important to me than what he does when he grows up. We all benefit from encouraging each other to be good humans.”