30 Seconds to Earn Their Trust
Dear Friends,
There are some people you meet and immediately know there is something special about them.
That is exactly how I felt when I met Tracey Cunningham.
We were standing in line at Starbucks at Duke. Tracey was working night shift, dressed in her flight suit, and I remember looking at her and thinking, I need to know her.
We started talking, and that conversation eventually became this week's episode of Dallas the Podcast.
I knew Tracey's job was fascinating.
What I didn't know yet was the story that led her there.
Before she cared for their babies, someone cared for hers.
Tracey has spent decades in nursing, but part of her story began when her first son, Zachary, needed care in the NICU.
She remembers what those nurses gave her during an incredibly vulnerable time—not only medical care for her baby, but comfort for her as his mother.
That experience stayed with her.
Years later, while on vacation in Utah, Tracey saw a child being airlifted. She watched the flight nurse arrive and remembers thinking, I've got to do what that nurse does.
In 2018, she became a neonatal and pediatric flight nurse.
Today, she often walks into another parent's worst day carrying something her medical training alone could never have given her:
She knows what it feels like to be the mom. Tracey Final Transcript
Thirty seconds.
Tracey told me that when she arrives to transport a critically ill child, she may have only moments with that child's parents before leaving.
She has to look a mother in the eyes, hold her hand, sometimes give her a hug, and assure her:
I'm going to take really good care of your baby.
In Tracey's mind, she has about 30 seconds to earn that parent's trust.
Then she may take the most precious thing in their world, place that child into a helicopter, and fly away. Tracey Final Transcript
I can't imagine the weight of that responsibility.
But listening to Tracey, I realized that what makes her so uniquely suited for those 30 seconds isn't simply everything she has learned as a nurse.
It's everything she has lived as a mother.
The flight Tracey will never forget.
During our conversation, Tracey told me about a baby named Daniel.
Daniel was critically ill with a congenital heart defect. He needed surgery, and Tracey knew there wasn't another medication she could give that was going to fix his heart.
She had to get him to the hospital.
A flight that was about 45 minutes felt like three hours because of how sick he was.
There came a point when Tracey had done what she knew to do medically.
So she prayed.
And she kept moving toward the place where Daniel could receive the surgery he needed.
When they arrived, Daniel was rushed into intensive care and underwent surgery within the hour.
Today, he's doing well.
But one of the moments Tracey remembers most happened before the helicopter ever left.
She met Daniel's mother.
She held her hand.
She hugged her.
And she promised her that she was going to take great care of her son.
This mother had never met Tracey before, yet she was trusting her with what Tracey described as “the most precious thing that she has been given by God.” Tracey Final Transcript
Sometimes we understand the story looking backward.
One of my favorite parts of my conversation with Tracey was talking about faith and the different seasons God leads us through.
We talked about waiting.
Being still.
Trusting God's plans when we can't yet see how the pieces fit together.
Tracey's story is such a beautiful picture of that.
The young mother sitting beside her son's NICU bed couldn't possibly have known all the ways that experience would become part of her future.
She couldn't see the parents whose hands she would one day hold.
She couldn't see the children she would help transport.
She couldn't see the frightened parent who would someday need to look into her eyes and decide, in a matter of seconds, I trust you with my baby.
But looking backward, there is a thread running through it all.
Not because the difficult parts weren't difficult.
But because they weren't wasted.
For the parent who is there right now.
Near the end of our conversation, I asked Tracey what she would want to say to a parent whose baby is in the NICU right now.
Her answer came from experience.
She said she would want her feelings validated. She would want doctors and nurses to tell her the truth. She would want someone to come down to her level, look her in the eyes, hold her hand, and let her know they care.
And she talked about prayer—not just generally praying, but praying specifically for what that child needs. Tracey Final Transcript
Tracey also gives parents something else:
A job.
When so much has suddenly been taken out of their hands, she reminds them there are still things they can do.
Get dressed.
Eat.
Rest.
If they're able and planning to breastfeed, make milk for their baby.
Take care of themselves so they can continue showing up for their child. Tracey Final Transcript
It is such simple advice.
But sometimes hope doesn't arrive as a perfect answer.
Sometimes it looks like someone sitting beside you, acknowledging how hard this is, and helping you see the next thing you can do.
That is what I walked away thinking about after my conversation with Tracey.
We may not always understand what God is doing in the middle of a difficult chapter.
Tracey couldn't.
But years later, she can look back and see how part of what she once received, she is now able to give.
Comfort. Compassion. Trust. And hope.
I hope you'll join me for this week's episode of Dallas the Podcast, 30 Seconds to Earn Their Trust, with Tracey Cunningham.
With love and hope,
Dallas