David 'the NICU Grandpa' Deutchman #AtoZChallenge

Despite 'doing it' for 12 years, David Deutchman's selfless gesture of love gained prominence only recently. Ironically, for a man well past his seventies, this story begins in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

With her baby born prematurely at 25 weeks, a young mother was struggling between watching her child anxiously inside the hospital for weeks and coming home every night to look after her elder child. Every morning, she worried about how her newborn must feel, alone at night inside the hospital ICU. Until one morning she walked into the PICU and found her tiny infant snuggling happily in the arms of an elderly man. The picture she shared and the story she had to tell would bring the 'NICU Grandpa' into the spotlight.

“He rocked our baby for countless hours. 

What a wonderful gift he has, and what a blessing it is that he shares that love with others.” 

- Kristin Cook Walker.

For 12 years, like clockwork, David Deutchman visits the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta hospital twice - on Tuesdays, he heads to the PICU and on Thursdays to the NICU. He has only one goal. This hospital volunteer sits, cuddles, sings and whispers words of encouragement to the tiniest and weakest of newborn children in the ICU of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, children whose parents cannot be with them throughout the day. He sits patiently inside the ICU for hours, rocking the babies throughout the day and meets the parents to allays their fears, letting them know that 'the ICU Grandpa' will be there throughout the day for their child.

The photo of David Deutchman shared by the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta presently has an astonishing 248,000 likes, 66,200 shares and more than 10,000 comments.

One comment though stands apart even here, with over 21,000 likes.

"I've known David as a special man for 53 years -- he's my dad! To read the thousands of comments and see the outpouring of affection is very moving to our entire family. Thank you for recognizing my dad. He truly loves what he does." 

- Susan Lilly.

Author's note:

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion.

The list for this year's (2018) Heroes of Kindness can be found here.

Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity. You can find the entire list of Real-life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion here.