Fairfield Single Mom, A Pediatric Nurse, Gets $10K Surprise

FAIRFIELD, CT — When pediatric nurse and single mom Nicole Bobko was called in to work Saturday, she found an early Mother’s Day surprise waiting outside the hospital: her family, coworkers and a giant check.

“I was in shock,” said Bobko, who won a $10,000 kitchen remodel from Express Kitchens.

Bobko, known as “Nurse Nikki” to family and friends, won the remodel after her sister entered her in an online contest for mothers in health care to receive $10,000 from the Connecticut cabinet maker.

“She’s very modest, she’s very humble,” said Bobko’s sister, Danielle Delbridge. “… She loves her job.”

Delbridge, who lives in the Stratfield neighborhood, is currently Bobko’s housemate as well as her sister. After Bobko’s husband died unexpectedly in April 2019 — a month after the birth of their second daughter — Bobko started renovating her Fairfield home and moved herself and her two girls in with her sister and brother-in-law. But the day when the family of three will depart is fast approaching.

“We knew that it’s time for them to move on,” Delbridge said. “They have to start over now.”

Bobko and her husband, Andrew Bobko, lived in a Tunxis Hill house that has been in her family for generations. After Andrew died at age 36 of a pill overdose, Nicole decided she wanted to make their home, “different, but the same.” Her father is overseeing the renovation, which has been underway for months.

Amid the stress of remodeling and relocating the family came the new coronavirus.

“It’s something I have never experienced,” said Nicole, who has been a nurse for 12 years. “… You don’t really know how it’s going to affect people.”

In her work in pediatrics and neonatal intensive care at Stamford Hospital, Nicole has treated children with COVID-19 and seen babies separated for days or weeks from mothers who have the virus and can only see their newborns through FaceTime. In Fairfield County, there have been more than 13,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 1,000 associated deaths, according to the most recent state data.

When she’s not at work, Nicole is no longer just a mom. With school buildings closed, she balances helping her 5-year-old daughter, Eliana, with remote learning while caring for 1-year-old Hannah.

“It’s hard to explain to them why they’re staying home and why they can’t play with their friends,” she said. “… It’s been hard to watch them struggle to understand.”

But Saturday, Nicole was able to put her pressures aside. After the surprise at the hospital, Fairfield police and fire officials participated in a car parade to congratulate her, as did the first selectwoman.

“It was amazing,” Nicole said.