When five-year-old Slade Thompson woke up from surgery to have his tonsils removed, he was in pain and crying.
The little boy, from Renovo, Pennsylvania, wanted to see his mother, but she wasn't allowed to be in the room yet until his vitals were checked.
So Slade asked one of his nurses, Annie Hager, if she would snuggle with him. She immediately said yes, and crawled into bed with him, giving him a tight hug.
The sweet moment was captured on camera and has been shard more than thousands of times across social media.
Slade Thompson, five, from Renovo, Pennsylvania, woke up crying for his mother after tonsil surgery last month. He asked one of his nurses, Annie Hager, 35, if she would snuggle with him. Pictured, left and right: Slade with Hager
Hager cuddled Slade (pictured) for five to 10 minutes until he fell asleep, which is when Slade's mother was allowed to enter the room
Slade and his mother, Layla Thompson, are no strangers to hospitals, but they can still be scary places for five-year-olds.
Thompson, told DailyMail.com that her son has been visiting several hospitals and doctors since age two due to an unrelated medical condition.
As a toddler, Slade began walking on his toes rather than putting his whole foot down on the ground.
'It was full-blown ballerina tip-toes,' Thompson said. 'It got to the point that he couldn't put his heel on the floor.'
Doctors discovered he had an extremely tight Achilles tendon so, in January 2019, surgeons at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia lengthened the tendons in both legs.
Slade was in a wheelchair for two months and had to learn to walk 'heel toe, heel toe,' according to Thompson.
Then, on April 18, Slade was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center Susquehanna for a tonsillectomy, a procedure to remove the tonsils, for breathing problems.
The tonsils are two small glands that are located at the back of throat that help prevent
