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"Wading" on a Friend
Never was the unrelenting dedication of the Meridian At Home
staff more evident than when this grateful man’s nurse battled
floodwaters to provide the care she pledged to deliver.
"I didn’t know until the floods of October
2005 that my visiting nurse followed the
same motto as the postal service: ‘Neither
rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor dark of night
shall stay the courier from his appointed
rounds,’ " says 96-year-old Cedar Bonnet
Island resident Karl Snyder.
"Sure, there’s an inherent expectation
of quality and compassionate care that is
associated with Meridian At Home nurses,
but when I saw Donna borrow those
wader boots from one of my neighbors
and struggle through three-foot-high floodwaters to reach me, she exceeded
my expectations of quality care," Karl
continues with a grin. "I can still see it
— she really went above and beyond
the call of duty to help me out."
But the compassionate nurse in
question, Donna Kurdyla, LPN, modestly
points out, "Anyone in my position —
for that matter, anyone who knows Karl
— would do whatever possible to help
him feel better and get him back to
what he loves to do every day," which,
in Karl’s case, is fishing.
Finding a Way There
Donna, a Meridian At Home nurse
for the past five years, had been
caring for Karl’s injured foot after
he’d suffered third-degree burns
when walking barefoot across his
sun-drenched, scalding-hot deck.
"I changed his dressings and treated
his wounds a couple of times a week,"
Donna says.
As the two got to know each other
during her visits, they hit it off and
shared a "do anything you can to help"
attitude, as illustrated by her tenacity
in reaching him on that October day.
She recalls the incident vividly:
"The streets were completely flooded
— both the main roads and the side
streets. And we’re not talking freshwater
flooding. It was all salt water,
which ruins your engine if you drive
through it."
About a block away from Karl’s
house, Donna could go no farther.
"I remember thinking, ‘Now what?’
I had no idea of how to get to his
home through all that water," she
recounts. "Then I noticed one of Karl’s
neighbors walking by with thigh-high
wading boots. I called the neighbor
over, explained who I was, and asked
to borrow his boots so that I could
reach Karl. Of course the neighbor
agreed. Freshly bandaged, Karl was
able to get back outside to go fishing
later that day, so it was well worth the
extra effort." Just like Karl, Donna
grins at the memory.
Quality Care Recognized Nationally
Meridian At Home is a comprehensive
provider of home health care, offering
a complete range of home health and
personal care solutions, including:
visiting nursing; physical, speech, and
occupational rehabilitation; live-in and
companionship care; hospice; medical
equipment and oxygen delivery; home
intravenous medication therapy; and
home monitoring and medication
compliance technologies. Home
Health Line recently recognized
Meridian At Home among the top
home health care agencies in the
United States for quality care.
"Donna exemplifies the dedication
and commitment of our team members
to ensure the highest-quality care for
our patients in the safest environments
possible," remarks Michelle
Mendelson, director of Meridian At
Home. "Her extraordinary efforts are
just one example of why I think we
have been singled out as one of the
best agencies in the nation."
 – Chris Teasdale
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