TAMPA, Fla. — A cardiac nurse from the Florida Panhandle displaced along with her family by Hurricane Michael got some unexpected help this week from her new co-workers in the Tampa Bay area.
- Ashley Prossick's home destroyed by storm
- Prossick hired at St. Joseph's Hospital
- Nurse manager collected donations to help Prossick's family
- More Good News stories
It’s tough for Ashley Prossick to fight back tears as she replays the tragedy that turned her family’s lives upside down just one month ago.
“My house, my home, where I wanted my kids to grow up, is gone, and I have nothing,” Prossick said.
The cardiac nurse thought she’d be able to ride out Hurricane Michael and head back to work, helping people at a Panama City area hospital.
But the Category 4 storm ripped through her family’s home and forced them to take shelter hundreds of miles of away.
“It was completely destroyed," Prossick explained. "I had no roof, I had no porch, my son’s bedroom wall was caved in."
Luckily, Prossick was hired as a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital. After hearing Prossick's story, Nurse Manager Diana Hielsberg recruited colleagues to collect donations.
“It just made me want to break down, hearing the tough time she’d been through and how quickly she was getting her life back in order,” Hielsberg said.
The group surprised Ashely with baskets filled with toiletries, toys, and other necessities for her family. It was an act of kindness that Ashley said made strangers feel like family.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I miss my home, but I’ve never been more thankful,” Prossick said.