Parkland Staff Remembers Beloved Nurse
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Friends, coworkers, and patients of a Parkland hospital nurse are remembering his impact on their lives. Randal Dygert, 61, died on Friday.
Dygert and a female Parkland employee were crossing Harry Hines Boulevard just before 7 a.m., on the way to the hospital.
Police say the pedestrians were near the crosswalk when they were hit by a privately operated shuttle bus.
Dygert died on impact, and the other pedestrian is recovering from her injuries.
Monday, Dallas police said the bus driver will not face charges for the accident. Police say the driver had a green light right-of-way at the time.
Dygert spent 33 years as a registered nurse for Parkland Hospital, and is remembered by his colleagues for his positive attitude and desire to help the patients and employees around him.
"To me, he embodies nursing. He was ever ready. No assignment was too difficult. He was ever ready with a smile and a can-do attitude," said Miriam Gomez-Wakeling.
Gomez-Wakeling is the unit manager of the Parkland Center for Internal Medicine, where Dygert worked.
She learned of the tragedy early Friday morning. Many staff had to pass by the busy intersection where the crash happened on their way to work.
Employees were offered grief counseling and the opportunity for a prayer service on Friday.
Gomez-Wakeling says Dygert helped launch the Parkland Center for Internal Medicine. She's personally known him for ten years and had the chance to see his impact.
Dygert was the recipient of the Nursing Excellence Award.
"Randal's never met a stranger. It was never too difficult to help somebody. His compassion for caring exceeded any chore or task he'd been given. He believed in nursing," Gomez-Wakeling said.
Gomez-Wakeling says countless people have called the hospital unit, asking where they can send a card and how they can offer condolences.
While she knew what a passionate nurse Dygert was, Gomez-Wakeling says it was evident after the accident on Friday, when patients in the waiting room learned the news that their beloved caregiver had died.
She walked out to the waiting area to find some thirty patients, holding hands and praying for Dygert.
When the manager wondered aloud if the clinic should close for the day, she says everyone decided to stay, including the patients.
"I said to them, 'We're thinking about canceling your appointments.' They said, 'Well that's okay, cancel, but we're not leaving. We are here for you," Gomez-Wakeling recalls.
She says the patients in that moment became the ones caring for the staff, in a show of what Nurse Dygert meant to them.
"This is a job where we have to take care of other people. To have them turn around and say, 'We're going to take care of you right back – they were comforting us."
The service for Randal Dygert will take place Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at The Memorial Chapel at Restland Funeral Home.
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
