Jeff and Michelle Heyer
On November 27, 2012, my sister's husband, Jeff, went into cardiac arrest and nearly lost his life. Today, he is still in critical condition in the ICU, and Michelle has not left the hospital either as she waits for him to wake up and become responsive. She stands by his bed and holds his hand and runs her fingers through his hair because she knows how much he likes that. She tells him stories and reads him books. He loves music, so she has music playing for him in his room and I've even heard her belting out the words to their wedding song.
The doctors foresee that Jeff has a very long road to recovery ahead of him, given the amount of time it took them to revive him. Unfornately, this is not Jeff's first go-around in the hospital. At age 16 he was diagnosed wth Type 1 diabetes and it was discovered that he was born with only one kidney. Since then, he has suffered from chronic renal failure. As a result, Michelle, their primary source of income, has exhausted her paid leave from work and faces a serious financial crisis, if she is not able to keep their household bills and his medical expenses paid while he recovers. I know that I can't heal Jeff and I can't take away Michelle's anguish as she waits to be able to talk to her husband again, but my hope is that, with everyone's support, we can relieve some of their worries.
