Meet The ‘ICU Grandpa’ Who Snuggles Babies In Intensive Care

All babies need special care and attention. That’s especially true for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Newborns who are placed in the NICU require extra attention and specialized treatment. Often, these premature babies are fighting for their lives. And one man nicknamed the “ICU Grandpa” has helped countless babies at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in their fight.

Watch this special in grandpa in action and hear him describe why he volunteers with the babies:

Retiree David Deutchman has been volunteering his time at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for more than 12 years, according to USA Today. He spends his time in the NICU and PICU units of the hospital and can often be found cradling the tiniest patients. Deutchman has two daughters in their 50s and two grandchildren of his own, age 19 and 21.

While parents and staff at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta have been in awe of Deutchman’s comforting presence for years, he’s now getting national attention thanks to a grateful mom’s photo.

Baby Logan has been in the hospital for six weeks. One morning, his overwhelmed and anxious mom walked into the PICU to find Deutchman holding Logan. She captured the touching moment on camera, and the hospital shared her photo along with a post about Deutchman’s impact on patients and their families over the years:

“This photo captures just one precious moment with a legend of a hospital volunteer who’s been holding patients, and their parents’ hands, for 12 years,” read the post.

People can’t get enough of this selfless and adorable grandpa, and the post has now been shared more than 48,000 times.

“We live two hours from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and seeing him all snuggled up when I got there was such a blessing,” MaryBeth Brulotte, Logan’s mom, told USA Today. “Knowing this man is so selfless and donates his time to these babies is such a blessing.”

Deutchman remains humble and insists he gets more than he receives from his role as ICU Grandpa. “It’s been wonderful, because it gives me something to do that has meaning to it,” he told USA Today.

What a sweet story! We think every NICU deserves a special “ICU Grandpa” like Deutchman.