After 340 days on a ventilator in intensive care at Humber River Hospital, 27-year-old Toronto resident Nicole Pampena was finally discharged Wednesday.
She was led out of the hospital to the sounds of her favorite singer Drake and the cheers of the hospital staff.
“I’m not much of a Bible Bible person,” her father, Joseph Pampena, told CTV News Toronto. “But she really is a miracle.”
He says when Nicole was initially admitted on August 20 last year after suffering a haemorrhage and undergoing surgery, he was told she probably wouldn’t make it.
“I’ve been told that since she was born, though,” he says.
Nicole was born prematurely and has cerebral dysgenesis, a rare condition affecting brain development in infancy. She cannot stand or swallow and needs constant care.
While in the ICU, she required a tracheostomy. With her dedicated nursing support and her own determination, she was able to slowly improve.
Registered social worker Olivia Coughlin, who has been with Nicole since she was admitted, said it was extremely unusual for someone in intensive care for so long to be allowed to go straight home.
“Typically, patients who are on ventilators have to transition to a secondary program before they can go directly home,” Coughlin said. “So this is definitely a first for us, sending home directly from our ICU. This is a very unique case.”
The key was that Nicole’s private nursing team received special training from Humber River Hospital and West Park Health so that they were equipped to use her ventilator and associated equipment.
The family has set up a GoFundMe in an attempt to raise funds needed to “offset some of the nursing costs.”
Joseph, who is blind, is Nicole’s primary caregiver. Her mother died of liver cancer a few years ago.
Joseph communicates with Nicole by placing his hand on her head, and Nicole, who is nonverbal, indicates her responses by nodding or shaking her head.
Right now, Nicole is only home for a day, but if all goes well, next week she should be able to go home permanently.
And that, Coughlin says, was her mother’s dying wish for Nicole to be safe and happy at home.
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