‘I get to have an impact’: NICU nurse born with rare condition is driven to help other families

By Quanecia Fraser

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — When Gabby Dour was born with a rare condition, doctors said she wouldn’t be able to talk or eat. But more than 20 years later, she’s doing more than that. Dour is a neonatal intensive care unit nurse at Children’s Hospital, the same place where she spent much of her childhood.

“I had my first surgery at 2 days old. And then I got my tracheostomy tube at 6 weeks old,” Dour said.

Dour was born with cystic lymphangioma.

“I had a blockage in my lymphatic system that caused all the fluid-filled cysts in my jaw and tongue,” Dour said.

The first years of her life involved home health care along with several surgeries and illnesses.

“My parents were told when I was born, I would probably never talk or eat, but I’m here,” Dour told KETV Newswatch 7.

What she also remembers about her treatments are the nurses who diligently cared for her. She admired them so much that she decided that was exactly what she wanted to do when she grew up.

“There’s a picture in my parents’ house of me when I was like 3 or 4, and I had a children’s set of scrubs with the old Children’s logo, and I’m doing charting on the spare set of home health charting,” Dour said.

In 2023, after graduating from nursing school, Dour started her nursing job at the same place where she’d already spent so much time.

“I get to have an impact on all these families, and watch these babies grow and develop all the skills that they need to be successful outside of a hospital, is really — it’s nice,” she said.

Each shift, Dour walks the halls of the Children’s NICU area, empowering parents facing different challenges.

“Being in the NICU, I more hope to connect with the parents and kind of relay my story and show how it’s kind of tough right now, and it seems really scary and daunting, but it does get better, and it might not be forever,” she said.

Dour has the word “resilience” tattooed on her arm. She’s spreading hope and showing that resilience always wins.

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