Memorial Announces Hunter Fontenot June 2026 DAISY Award Winner

Congratulations to Hunter Fontenot BSN, RN, a nurse in the emergency room at Lake Charles Memorial Health System. He was nominated for his expert, calm, and compassionate care to a patient and their family during a very scary medical emergency. 

From the nominator:

We would like to nominate nurse Hunter Fontenot for the DAISY Award in recognition of the exceptional care he provided during my husband's recent emergency room visit. From the moment he began caring for my husband, it was clear that nursing is more than just a job to him - it is his true calling. During an incredibly frightening and critical situation involving severe intestinal bleeding and emergency transfer to another hospital, he consistently demonstrated compassion, intelligence, professionalism, and genuine dedication. What stood out the most was his bedside manner. He treated my husband with dignity, kindness, and respect at a time when he was vulnerable and scared.

Even during difficult and unpleasant tasks, including personally helping clean him during active hemorrhaging, he never once made us feel like a burden or "just another patient." He showed sincere concern for my husband's comfort, safety, and outcome at every step. He remained fully engaged in my husband's care until literally the final minutes of his shift. He made sure that every detail was handled before transport to the next hospital. He ensured my husband had everything necessary for the 2.5-hour ambulance ride, including properly managed blood transfusions and medications.

Right before transport, he administered medication specifically intended to help control the bleeding, and throughout the entire experience, he worked diligently to keep my husband's pain under control. Most importantly, he made us feel safe during a terrifying medical emergency. His calm presence, knowledge, and compassion gave us confidence that my husband was truly being cared for by someone who genuinely wanted him to survive and recover. People like Nurse Hunter deserve far more recognition than they often receive. You can tell he truly loves what he does, and that passion directly impacts the lives of his patients and their families.

Alongside Dr. Nottingham, we genuinely believe he helped save my husband's life. We are deeply grateful for the extraordinary care he provided and cannot imagine having gone through this experience with anyone better. He was exactly the kind of nurse the DAISY Award was created to honor.

About DAISY:

In late 1999, at the age of 33, Patrick Barnes awoke with some blood blisters in his mouth. Having survived Hodgkin's Disease twice, he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).

Said his father, Mark Barnes, "We are so blessed that we were able to spend the eight weeks of his hospitalization with him and his family. During those weeks, we experienced the best of Nursing. We were there to see the clinical skill that dealt with his very complex medical situation, the fast thinking of nurses who saved his life more than once, and that nursing excellence that took years to hone to the best of the profession. But frankly, as a patient family, we rather expected that Pat would have great clinical care. That was why he was in the hospital. What we did not expect was the way his nurses delivered that care - the kindness and compassion they gave Pat and all of us in his family every day. We were awed by the way the nurses touched him and spoke with him, even when he was on a ventilator and totally sedated. The way they informed and educated us eased our minds. They truly helped us through the darkest hours of our lives, with soft voices of hope and strong loving hugs that to this day, we still feel."

Just days after he died, the family began talking about what they would do to help fill the giant hole in their hearts that Pat’s passing had left. His wife came up with the acronym, DAISY, standing for diseases attacking the immune system. As they discussed what to do in Patrick’s memory, first and foremost, they wanted to say Thank You for the gifts nurses give their patients and families every day. That is when the family created The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses.

For more information regarding Hunter's nomination, click here >>>