We are Niagara Health is a series of stories that celebrates the incredible people working and volunteering in our organization and how they make a difference in the lives of patients and coworkers every day.
The father-daughter team of respiratory therapists, Peter and Taylor Morrone.
When Taylor Morrone was asked growing up what her father did for a living, she didn’t say he was respiratory therapist.
Instead, she offered a simple yet powerful explanation of his job description.
“I said,’ My dad saves lives. My dad saves people,’” Taylor recalls.
These days, the same is true for Taylor. Inspired by her father, Peter Morrone, she became a respiratory therapist, hired last year to work the at Welland Hospital, where she sometimes saves lives alongside Peter and shares a unique bond with him on and off the job.
Beyond discussing – and admiring – Peter’s work with those who were curious, Taylor hadn’t originally planned to follow in his footsteps.
She knew she wanted to work in medicine and planned to become a doctor. But as she learned more about what her father did at the Niagara Falls Hospital, where Peter has worked for 35 years, and the high-pressure situations he deftly navigated, her respect for him and understanding of his role deepened.
By Grade 10, Taylor knew she wanted to become a respiratory therapist and began laying the foundation to do so. Peter was chuffed by her decision.
“I loved it,” he says. “I just wanted to make sure it was something she was doing because she liked it and not just following in my footsteps. I was very proud it was something she wanted to do because I knew we’d be going to work together.”
The father-daughter team share shifts at the same hospital about twice a month. On those days, the commute to work together is one of quiet contemplation for Taylor while Peter prefers to ready for the day with coffee and music. The drives home, however, are filled with conversation about the successes and challenges of the day, and asking each other how they would have handled certain situations.
A bond at work and at home
“If she’s encountered something for the first time, it’s probably something I’ve seen before and she asks what I would have done,” Peter says. “It helps because people don’t always have someone at home to talk to. We have each other to bounce things off of and get things off our chest. She’s my comfort zone. It’s great to have that.”
They also check in regularly with each other when they don’t work together, calling to reflect, collaborate or decompress.
“Even the positive situations, it’s exciting to tell someone who understands what you did,” Taylor says.
There are proud parent moments that come during those conversations. Peter vividly recalls the time Taylor called to talk about intubating a baby born at 23 weeks' gestation. It was the first time she worked with a patient so young and fragile.
“How she handled the airway for someone just out of school was very impressive,” he says.
But his proudest moment was watching her intubate a patient during an adult cardiac arrest.
“The manner in which she handled it, she was calm, cool and collected in a room full of doctors. That was a Proud Papa moment,” he says.
Much like when she was a child telling people what Peter did for a living, Taylor also continues to have proud moments about her dad and his impact on the people he helps.
“Every time I meet someone who knows him, they say, ‘Your dad is the best.’ Every kid thinks their dad is the best but hearing it from other people is such a great feeling,” she says. “Seeing him when I was an extern interacting with patients and family, you see he really cares. It’s not just a job.”
