I received a call last week that no one wants to receive. It was Peter Murphy informing me that a close friend of ours had a terrible accident and was rushed to a trauma center. The outlook at that time was dim and the future was looking bleak. On that call, I learned that our dear friend Kenny, a 66-year-old contractor who thinks he is 26, had taken a nasty fall down a flight of stairs while on the job and his prognosis was unknown. We have all received news that a dear colleague or family member has found danger and it never gets easier to brace for the worst case scenario. At that moment, you realize that tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us.
When you hear the news that a loved one is sick, or had a heart attack or stroke that has put them in a near death situation, your mind races as you hope for the best, wishing there is more time on the clock. I know hope isn’t a strategy, but at the moment, you imagine life without that individual. Your religion may come sweeping in and you have that conversation with your maker, bargaining to keep the person alive and well, and you imagine a world where it all turns out alright.
I arrived at St. Joe’s hospital and saw my buddy lying prone in a hospital bed. Those moments stay with you as you look at the seemingly indestructible man, Kenny, who works like a maniac and is a self-made successful businessman who escaped war-torn Albania with a suitcase, 25 dollars and a dream, and managed to turn his life into an amazing story of joy, charity, good deeds and successes. This isn’t how his story should end.
As I entered the room, I saw our patient wearing a neck brace, he had a nasty looking large lump on his front forehead, a growing lump on the bridge on his now broken nose and blood all over his now streaked hospital gown. He was dazed and clearly seeped in equal parts pain and confusion.
This man, an infectious and incredibly energetic man, who was always the life of the party, the one who did everything for everyone, was the most generous, the most compassionate, the best family man, and simply the best human being I know, was now lying out cold on a bed. I didn’t know if we’d have to plan for his funeral, but I tried to stay positive for his stoic and dedicated wife and family members.
We didn’t know at that moment whether Kenny would survive the next hour. We didn’t know whether he would survive the night. We didn’t know the depth of his injuries, but the outward appearance wasn’t good. The amazing trauma team was fast at work mending our buddy as his life edged between the here and now and the great beyond. At that moment, I came to realize that tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us.
Tomorrow isn’t a certainty and the question is, would we do anything differently today knowing tomorrow isn’t guaranteed?
The next couple days was touch and go and the list of injuries included a severe concussion, two broken wrists, a broken nose, a broken knee cap, and a fractured neck. The C6 vertebrae to be exact. The line between life and death, or lifetime paralysis, was as fine as could be. One doctor told us that the space between being alive and seeing his maker was separated by a whisper, less than a doll’s hair. The next few days came and went and the news gradually grew better. Eventually, Kenny was transported home where he will convalesce for a few weeks.
The point of this column is to send a message and a reminder that life isn’t guaranteed. We have a finite amount of time on this earth and we should be gracious with that precious time and appreciate the wonder of each day. We are gifted with the astonishing ability to do anything in any given day. We can make people happy, donate to a charity, do a great deed, visit a shut in, rescue a pet, or make good to an estranged friend or family member. We have the ability to do something that makes the world a better place—so why don’t we do this with some regularity?
Sometimes we need moments like this to look inward and reset the mechanisms inside us that govern our being and reprogram ourselves to allow for the appreciation of a moment, appreciation of a day, appreciation of this life we have all been given.
I’ve been told to never let a tragedy or mishap go to waste, so let’s put this one to good use. Let this accident serve as a great reminder to people like Kenny to slow down a bit and allow the wonderfulness of your work and life to be appreciated and embraced. We need to not only appreciate life, but appreciate what we do with our remaining time on this earth.
Some of us need a reminder to appreciate the value of life and smell the roses in a world where tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.
To Kenny, my brother and friend, please take note of this near calamity and slow down so Maverick and Benjamin can grow old with their granddad.
