A NURSE'S WORST NIGHTMARE

It was a normal shift for ICU nurse Erica Hutchinson, 37, until she got the call every mum dreads

- CANDICE FERNANDEZ, MISHAAL KHAN

As the words echoed overhead, it was nothing unusual. 'Level one paediatric trauma,' the announcement said.

I was an ICU nurse, looking after patients in critical condition and I'd spent the past eight years working at this hospital, in Missouri, in the US. Taking bloods, changing dressings and providing round-the-clock care for some of our sickest patients.

It was hard work, but a privilege to help people, and I'd had to get used to the fact that a day at work for me was my patients' worst nightmare.

Only, today was different, because I already knew this case was serious. The patient was a little boy suffering severe burns, in need of urgent treatment - and he was my little boy. Today was my nightmare.

It was January 2024. Waking early, I'd dressed in my scrubs and clipped on my nurse's badge, like usual. My husband Nathan, then 35, had already left for his maintenance job at an amusement park, and our sons Wyatt, 13, and Kason, seven, were still asleep, but our neighbour Mike was coming over soon to feed the cows on our farm.

The morning air was chilly as I arrived at the hospital. Then, just 45 minutes into my shift, Wyatt had called.

'Mum, Kason got burnt,' he'd told me. At first, I assumed he'd run his hand under hot water, or touched the hob.

'How bad is it?' I asked, but the line went silent. Then Mike grabbed the phone.

'Erica, it's bad,' he'd said, and my stomach lurched. There was no time for more details, my nurse's instinct kicked in and I knew we needed to act fast.

'Bring him to the hospital,' I'd said before calling Nathan, telling him to come in as fast as possible.