Hospital worker who reads to pediatric patients seeks book donations

DES MOINES — A hospital worker who reads to sick children in the pediatric intensive care unit needs book donations.

“They can still hear and sometimes it helps to let them know they are not alone,” Dane Pratt told KCCI. "Someone is there for them."

Pratt is a cardiovascular perfusionist at Mercy One Medical Center and runs the equipment that allows young patients’ lungs and hearts to rest.

Pratt recently read to Parker Baker, a 13-month-old on life support. She contracted viruses similar to RSV, which attacks the respiratory system, and she already had weak lungs.

"He has just been the most compassionate medical professional we have ever met in our life," her mother, Cassie Baker, told KCCI. "We owe so much to him because he truly just gave us that hope to stick with this and she is going to see another day."

Pratt gets the books he reads to the children from the library, but he will accept donations of new books.

“It means the world to me. Going the extra mile doesn’t mean you actually have to walk a mile. sometimes you can just read a book,” Pratt told KCCI.

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