Akira Joy Hendricks was in advanced heart failure, waiting on a left ventricular assist device at Piedmont Augusta in Georgia. The LVAD would keep her heart pumping, but it came with a permanent trade-off. Full immersion in water would no longer be possible. So before surgery, she made one request: she wanted to be baptized, fully, while she still could.
The hospital made it work. Staff set up an inflatable pool in the bathroom of her patient room. A family friend served as pastor, and nurses, doctors, and caregivers packed in to witness the moment. One team member described it as the real superpower of care, helping patients not just physically, but spiritually and emotionally. Piedmont Augusta has performed more than 200 LVAD implants, but this was a first.
Her surgery went well, and her recovery is progressing. For a community like ours on the Suncoast, where so many work in healthcare or lean on it, this story lands somewhere familiar. It’s a reminder that medical care and human care are not competing priorities. They belong in the same room, sometimes even the same bathroom.
Would you want your care team to make room for a request like this? Let us know in the comments.
