WATCH: From Health First NICU to UCF Graduate – Sam Eisert’s Full‑Circle Return to Holmes Regional Medical Center
By Space Coast Daily // May 5, 2026
Born fighting for his life at Holmes Regional, Sam Eisert returned nearly 23 years later to thank the NICU team — just days before graduating from college.
WATCH: Born fighting for his life at Holmes Regional, Sam Eisert returned nearly 23 years later to thank the NICU team — just days before graduating from college.
Sam, Susan, Dad Scott, and sister Sydney Eisert all popped into Holmes Regional on Tuesday to celebrate with the NICU staff who care for Brevard’s tiniest patients.
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Every Valentine’s Day, Sam Eisert and his mom, Susan, visit the NICU at Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center.
They come with treats to stock the nurses’ fridge and handwritten notes.
This was the first year Sam didn’t make it alongside Susan. He had an exam at the University of Central Florida, where he majored in computer engineering.
On Saturday, he will graduate from the school with his degree. But not before paying homage first.
Sam, Susan, Dad Scott, and sister Sydney Eisert all popped into Holmes Regional on Tuesday to celebrate with the NICU staff who care for Brevard’s tiniest patients.
And it wasn’t just about Sam’s significant milestone, but the compassionate care that gave him a shot at a full, healthy life.
“It’s important for me to come back and say thank you. I wouldn’t be here without the lovely nurses and doctors who were here when I was born,” said Sam, dressed in his graduation cap, stole, and cords.
“So, I owe everything to the people who were working here.”
“I’m definitely super grateful,” Sam said. “Everything that will continue, like the next chapters, wouldn’t be happening if I didn’t survive when I was younger.
And it’s given him plenty of pause.
“It’s been kind of an interesting thing to think about how close I was to actually not being here when I was so little,” Sam said.
A Look Back
Sam’s birth was joyous – but quickly turned worrisome.
“He had the cord wrapped around his neck,” said Susan. “He came a month early, so when I had him, the doctor’s like, ‘He’s really blue.’ ”
Just minutes old, baby Sam was whisked to the NICU, where he spent his first 12 days fighting for his life.
But what remains with the family isn’t the touch-and-go nature of the situation. It was the care Sam received that left them feeling confident their baby was in good hands – and would be okay.
“They were not panicked,” dad Scott Eisert recalled of the NICU staff’s professionalism. “Right then, we felt comfortable that they were doing the right thing.”
It left such an impact that Susan felt moved to do more than thank the caregivers when Sam was finally able to go home.
“While we were in there, a mom brought her daughter in… and she said, ‘Oh, I bring my daughter every year on her birthday,’ ” Susan said.
“So, when we left the hospital, I told him how we’re going to do something like that, because what they did for us, we, as parents, could not do for Sam. They saved him.”
So, a Valentine’s Day tradition was born. And Sam grew to learn the significance of their visits as the years passed.
“Sam wants to do it,” Susan said. “He’s like, ‘Mom, don’t forget Valentine’s Day. We’ve got to go to the store and buy stuff for the nurses.’ ”
A Story That Remains
After years of annual visits and handwritten cards, Sam’s story is well known among NICU staff – even the ones who never cared for him directly.
“We all know about Sam because we have seen the cards every year,” said Sherry Scates, nurse manager, NICU. “It reinforces that, yes, it’s our job, but oh my goodness, we are changing lives, absolutely.”
The reunion? Talk about a full-circle moment, not just for Sam and his family, but the NICU staff who care for Health First’s tiniest patients, who always don’t know what happens with their former patients as they journey through life.
“To see this child now is graduating from college,” Scates reflected. “That really gives parents hope.”
The experience seems to have eked into big sister Sydney’s career aspirations, who is studying occupational therapy, even if she didn’t realize it at the time.
She even did a clinical rotation in the NICU at a Gainesville hospital.
But it was also a moment for reflection. About what the experience was, and how it reverberates decades later.
“I hope people realize that the families really do go through so much more than they let on in the moment,” Sydney said.
“When I was in the NICU (for clinical rotations), I saw all these families, and they were being so strong and so brave, but…they do go through so much, and that doesn’t just disappear when you leave the hospital. Those are still memories.”
