ICU Nurses Help Baptize Elderly Patient Just Days Before Death
A heartwarming story details how three ICU nurses in Alabama-Erin Powers, Kaitlin Swaim, and Emily Owens-bought a kiddie pool and organized a baptism for terminally ill patient Jeannie Guffey, who was battling lung cancer. Despite hospital constraints, they used a pump too inflate and fill the pool with water, moved Guffey into the pool with a lift, and her son Baptized her in her hospital room, surrounded by her family. Her daughter-in-law described the moment as “really sweet,” and the nurses’ compassionate act fulfilled Guffey’s last wish to be baptized. She passed away peacefully a week later and entered into eternal life. The story highlights the nurses’ extraordinary kindness and dedication to honoring a patient’s final wish amidst challenging circumstances.
Because of three nurses at a hospital in Alabama, a 74-year-old patient was able to get baptized only one week before she passed away.
Jeannie Guffey, who was battling lung cancer, told her family in July that she wanted to be baptized, according to a report from The Christian Post.
But she was confined to her fourth-floor hospital bed at Huntsville Hospital, and was preparing to head home for hospice care.
ICU nurses Erin Powers, Kaitlin Swaim, and Emily Owens spent their own money on a kiddie pool from Walgreens to allow their patient to realize her dying wish.
FAITH IN ACTION: Three Alabama ICU nurses bought an inflatable pool to fulfill dying patient Jeannie Guffey’s final wish—to be BAPTIZED.
She passed away peacefully one week later. What a beautiful act of compassion. 🙏pic.twitter.com/vou9aC2AK1
— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) August 31, 2026
The pool arrived via DoorDash on July 8.
The nurses inflated the pool with a pump and filled it with water.
After staff used a lift to move Guffey into the pool, her adult son, Jody, baptized her in the hospital room.
Her husband, Ronnie, and other family members were gathered around for the special moment.
Owens said in a blog post for Huntsville Hospital that “this was a last wish that was very important to the patient and her family, so we had to find a way.”
“Sometimes, you’ve just got to get innovative,” she added.
Carol Guffey, her daughter-in-law, said that the moment was “really sweet.”
Patient Jeannie Guffey expressed a desire to be baptized, and her family desperately wanted to honor her wish. But they were unsure how to make it work inside a fourth-floor hospital room packed with monitors, IV poles and other medical equipment. pic.twitter.com/WiEP8o9MOj
— AL.com (@aldotcom) August 31, 2026
“The nurses went above and beyond to make this happen at the 11th hour when we were running out of options,” she reflected.
“Seeing her baptized, it was like the weight of the world was lifted off our shoulders.”
Just one day later, Guffey left the hospital.
The following Friday, she peacefully entered into the presence of the Lord and Savior in whose name she had just been baptized.
“That was a total God thing,” Carol Guffey continued. “And those nurses will be special to us forever.”
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