Survival, Intertwined
This past Monday, May 11, marked six years since Will’s sudden cardiac arrest. In the wee hours of that morning, Kristin performed 10 minutes of CPR that kept him alive. Those 10 minutes changed our lives forever.
Obviously, this is a day that brings up a lot of emotions for our family. From the relief and joy of survival; to the reckoning of lasting trauma, it’s been a rollercoaster. In this month’s essay, both of us reflect on our intertwined experiences.
How To Be A Compassionate Clinician In One Easy Step
When we were in our late 20s, my husband, Will, got cancer. When he was 30, he got cancer again, unrelated to the first time. When he was 34, he died in his sleep, but I wouldn’t let him go. After his unexplained sudden cardiac arrest, Will ended up in the ICU, where a nurse […]
10 Tips For Supporting Co-Survivors
Understanding co-survivors’ needs is crucial for mitigating lasting trauma. We’ve compiled some quick and easy tips to help support co-survivors. Best of all, each of these tips takes less than a minute. So pick one – or more if you want bonus points – and run with it! ?
The Gift of Honesty: How Truth Transformed a Child’s Perspective on Dad’s Survival
Hi. I’m a kid. FYI, I’m also funny. That probably isn’t the introduction you’re used to, but it turns out it’s important. Because, as you may have experienced, newfangled kids like me think a bit differently than you adults. But that doesn’t mean we’re incapable of processing important, if not scary, moments in our lives. […]
The Meaningful Thing that One Paramedic Did During My Husband’s Medical Emergency
This is Lieutenant Gregg. He is one of the first responders who helped us when my husband’s heart stopped beating in his sleep three years ago. On his way up the stairs to our bedroom, Lt. Gregg stopped briefly in the hallway. He made eye contact with our 8- and 5-year-old children in their beds […]
Lockdown, Love, and Life-Saving CPR: A Mother’s Day to Remember
I will never forget May 11, 2020; my husband will never remember. It was an out-of-body experience. Part of my brain was solely focused on what I needed to do. The other part was watching us from a third-person perspective while our life together flashed before my eyes. Stunned, I laced my fingers together, one […]
Roger
None of this was supposed to happen. We had vowed “in sickness and health,” but no one thinks they will have to cash in on that promise for decades. We assumed we would deal with that part when our hair had grayed, our skin had sagged, and we had built an entire life. Instead, we […]