'Full circle moment.' 2 nursing students reunite with doctor who treated them at Good Samaritan Hospital NICU
Both Thomas McHugh and Hailey Leitch were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital when they were born. They now are working alongside one of the doctors who treated them as newborns.
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Dec 2, 2022, 2:40 AM
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Updated 944 days ago
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9h agoA pair of Long Island nursing students are working alongside the doctor who helped treat them over two decades ago when they spent time in the NICU.
Both Thomas McHugh and Hailey Leitch were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital when they were born.
New Hyde Park native McHugh is now a dual-major nursing student at Molloy University.
When he learned he would be doing a rotation at the same NICU he was intubated as a newborn, he went home and told his parents.
McHugh says his mother wanted to know if the two doctors who took care of her son were still at the hospital.
Dr. Rao Bodapoti, who took care of both McHugh and Leitch, is still working at Good Samaritan Hospital.
After McHugh introduced himself to the doctor who took care of him 28 years earlier, he was taken aback by his response.
"After telling him a little bit about my case, he actually described my mom to me as being tall, blonde hair, so he actually remembered my mom and my case," McHugh says.
Deer Park native Leitch, who wasn't breathing after being born prematurely, says meeting the man who cared for her life was surreal.
"It was just a whole full circle moment," Leitch said.
For Dr. Bodapoti, it was a meeting that he says he will never forget.
"I was just, I don't know how much emotion I got, I cannot express," Dr. Bodapoti said. "I was so joyful, it made my day for that day."
McHugh says he is focused on a career working in an emergency room, and credits Dr. Bodapoti for teaching him during his rotation on how to be a calming influence on others.
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