Emergency Department staff remembers “Robin”
By Les Gura
Staff members of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s Emergency Department were hit hard in July when they learned about the death of a man they knew as “Robin.”
Robin, who was homeless, lived outside near the Medical Center and for more than a decade often came to the ED for assistance, health issues and, sometimes, just companionship.
ED Nursing Supervisor Michelle Collins says Robin visited so frequently that the Winston-Salem Police Department turned to the ED for help in trying to identify his next of kin. In his possessions, Robin listed the ED as his home address.
Collins says staff members discussed what to do when no one claimed Robin’s body because they wanted him to be treated with dignity. The entire team got behind the effort to give Robin a proper service.
On July 29, more than 50 people turned out for a tribute at Davis Memorial Chapel.
“He didn’t have any family, and so what does a family do? We care for each other,’’ Collins told doctors, nurses, support staff and friends of Robin. “We did that for Robin. We fed him, clothed him, shaved him, bathed him, cried with him. It’s not a stretch for us to realize that Robin was a part of us.”
Rev. Graylin Carlton, chaplain for transitional care at Wake Forest Baptist, told those at the service he knew Robin from the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission, where Carlton worked previously.
Once Carlton joined Wake Forest Baptist, “Robin would stop by and sit and talk and we would go eat together. He became like a brother,’’ Carlton shared. “For those who have much, it is difficult to understand the lives of those who have little. We have trouble fully comprehending people who live on the other side of poverty.”
“Robin, I know that you’re in a better place. I know you are with Jesus. I love you, brother.”
The day after the service, Collins traveled with her family to Boone and scattered Robin’s ashes in the mountains overlooking Appalachian State University. He had told many ED employees he attended graduate school there years earlier.
Collins said health care providers, and especially those in the ED, develop unique bonds with patients they care for.
From left, Iltifat Husain, Brooke Moxley, Michelle Collins, Melisha Bledsoe, and Heather Simmons.
“I think Robin touched us, as many of our regular patients do,’’ she said. “We care for them, worry about them, try to help them. He is not the only one; he is just a symbol of the love and care the ED staff give.”
At the service, Collins shared a fictional story about a father and son who traveled to the beach and spotted an old man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the ocean. They approached the man and gently told him he couldn’t make any difference trying to save all the starfish. The man looked at the one he was holding, tossed it back into the water and said, “Nope, but I made a difference for that one.”
“That’s what we did for Robin.’’
