Leaving a Legacy
Losing a loved one is tough. Very tough. Losing a loved one without warning is devastating. Meet my father, Dr. John Chisolm. He was an OB/GYN in the Memphis / Southaven area for almost 30 years.
He was instrumental in the joy of childbirth for many families...over 6,000 in fact, over the course of his career - including one of the first quadruplets in the Memphis area.
Many patients provided sweet pictures of their babies as well as other pictures at major milestones in their childrens' lives. I have many of these photographs saved, as we took them down from various bulletin boards in his office upon his retirement. There were also multiple stories about the lives that he saved in the delivery room. He was a hero.
He was also a wonderful father. He was larger than life. He loved to laugh, and loved to make others laugh.
One of the biggest joys in his life was his grandchildren.
He spent many hours in his retirement on his lake in Olive Branch. Fishing was a passion.
Saturday, May 16th was a day like any other day. Dr. John was excited about the pretty day, and had big plans for a day of fishing. He made a trip down to the bait store and was stopping by Kroger to pick up a few odds and ends. This is where the normal day came to abrupt end.
As Dr. John was entering the grocery store, he suffered a major cardiac arrest. Two passers-by administered CPR until the EMT arrived. The EMT administered 10 shocks from the defibrillator en route to the Baptist DeSoto Emergency Room.
Dr. John was stabilized and was placed in the ICU for recovery. Meanwhile, the family mobilized, including his son from Nashville (me) as well as his other local son and his wife. We spent some precious time with him in the ICU over the course of the next 32 hours. He had a tough battle on his hands, but ultimately lost the fight due to trauma complications. Those 32 hours were so precious for the family, as he was responsive to all of our questions. It really was a sweet time for our family as we said farewell to this wonderful man.
Although this is terribly tragic, and I am personally devastated...I believe there is always a redemptive story being told. As Paul Harvey used to say..."and now, the rest of the story."
As we were battling this tough 32-hour fight with death, the doctors informed us of this fact - for those patients that experience cardiac arrest in the field and are administered defibrillation (electric shock), only 1 in 1000 ever make it to the ER to have a fighting chance.
They let us know that his survival was directly tied to the fact that someone immediately began administering CPR in the field. As soon as I heard this, I just had to find that person to hug their neck and to tell them how thankful I was for those precious moments with my father.
Here's where it gets really interesting. How in the world can you track down an unknown individual with very little information other than a time and a place where the encounter took place? This is where the wonders of social media come into play. Thanks to the advice of my wife, I posted a plea on a FaceBook page for Hernando residents.
I posted the plea at 10:30 Monday evening. I was exhausted due to the events of the previous few days. I closed my laptop and went to sleep. I said a quick prayer that this individual would be found.
As I awoke, I opened up my laptop in hopes that I might have a tiny clue where to start looking. Answered prayer. Not only did I have a clue...I was told the specific person (or people, specifically) that were responsible, and they were actually looking for us as well.
As it turns out, I am eternally grateful to an 18-year old and his willingness to act. Unlike many others his age, he did not look the other way. He did not get out his cell phone to video tape the tragedy. No. He chose to act. He courageously turned to his mom and said "Mom, we're certified...we have to do this." For that choice, I am eternally grateful. A true hero. They proceeded to do chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth until EMT arrived. Their actions, along with the wonderful work from the ER, Cath Lab and ICU doctors and nurses, allowed the family to say goodbye.
This is the true reason for this fundraising effort. I want to honor the noble effort of this young man, Dalton Smith and his mother, Carla. 24-hours prior to this event, we didn't know this family. We are now inextricably connected.
I would like to honor Dalton in a way that continues my father's legacy. He was such a generous, giving individual. I would like to raise funds to assist in Dalton's college education. He is a graduating senior from Hernando High School (he graduated today, actually), and I am certain that he has great things in store for his life. He is a man of action.
As I mentioned before, losing a loved one is tough. Losing a loved one without warning is devastating. Thanks to this wonderful family and their choice to act instead of look the other way, we were able to say goodbye to our father. Please join me in honoring my father, in honoring Dalton and the Smith family, and in continuing Dr. John Chisolm's legacy of giving. Thank you!
David Chisolm
Losing a loved one is tough. Very tough. Losing a loved one without warning is devastating. Meet my father, Dr. John Chisolm. He was an OB/GYN in the Memphis / Southaven area for almost 30 years.
He was instrumental in the joy of childbirth for many families...over 6,000 in fact, over the course of his career - including one of the first quadruplets in the Memphis area.
Many patients provided sweet pictures of their babies as well as other pictures at major milestones in their childrens' lives. I have many of these photographs saved, as we took them down from various bulletin boards in his office upon his retirement. There were also multiple stories about the lives that he saved in the delivery room. He was a hero.
He was also a wonderful father. He was larger than life. He loved to laugh, and loved to make others laugh.
One of the biggest joys in his life was his grandchildren.
He spent many hours in his retirement on his lake in Olive Branch. Fishing was a passion.
Saturday, May 16th was a day like any other day. Dr. John was excited about the pretty day, and had big plans for a day of fishing. He made a trip down to the bait store and was stopping by Kroger to pick up a few odds and ends. This is where the normal day came to abrupt end.
As Dr. John was entering the grocery store, he suffered a major cardiac arrest. Two passers-by administered CPR until the EMT arrived. The EMT administered 10 shocks from the defibrillator en route to the Baptist DeSoto Emergency Room.
Dr. John was stabilized and was placed in the ICU for recovery. Meanwhile, the family mobilized, including his son from Nashville (me) as well as his other local son and his wife. We spent some precious time with him in the ICU over the course of the next 32 hours. He had a tough battle on his hands, but ultimately lost the fight due to trauma complications. Those 32 hours were so precious for the family, as he was responsive to all of our questions. It really was a sweet time for our family as we said farewell to this wonderful man.
Although this is terribly tragic, and I am personally devastated...I believe there is always a redemptive story being told. As Paul Harvey used to say..."and now, the rest of the story."
As we were battling this tough 32-hour fight with death, the doctors informed us of this fact - for those patients that experience cardiac arrest in the field and are administered defibrillation (electric shock), only 1 in 1000 ever make it to the ER to have a fighting chance.
They let us know that his survival was directly tied to the fact that someone immediately began administering CPR in the field. As soon as I heard this, I just had to find that person to hug their neck and to tell them how thankful I was for those precious moments with my father.
Here's where it gets really interesting. How in the world can you track down an unknown individual with very little information other than a time and a place where the encounter took place? This is where the wonders of social media come into play. Thanks to the advice of my wife, I posted a plea on a FaceBook page for Hernando residents.
I posted the plea at 10:30 Monday evening. I was exhausted due to the events of the previous few days. I closed my laptop and went to sleep. I said a quick prayer that this individual would be found.
As I awoke, I opened up my laptop in hopes that I might have a tiny clue where to start looking. Answered prayer. Not only did I have a clue...I was told the specific person (or people, specifically) that were responsible, and they were actually looking for us as well.
As it turns out, I am eternally grateful to an 18-year old and his willingness to act. Unlike many others his age, he did not look the other way. He did not get out his cell phone to video tape the tragedy. No. He chose to act. He courageously turned to his mom and said "Mom, we're certified...we have to do this." For that choice, I am eternally grateful. A true hero. They proceeded to do chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth until EMT arrived. Their actions, along with the wonderful work from the ER, Cath Lab and ICU doctors and nurses, allowed the family to say goodbye.
This is the true reason for this fundraising effort. I want to honor the noble effort of this young man, Dalton Smith and his mother, Carla. 24-hours prior to this event, we didn't know this family. We are now inextricably connected.
I would like to honor Dalton in a way that continues my father's legacy. He was such a generous, giving individual. I would like to raise funds to assist in Dalton's college education. He is a graduating senior from Hernando High School (he graduated today, actually), and I am certain that he has great things in store for his life. He is a man of action.
As I mentioned before, losing a loved one is tough. Losing a loved one without warning is devastating. Thanks to this wonderful family and their choice to act instead of look the other way, we were able to say goodbye to our father. Please join me in honoring my father, in honoring Dalton and the Smith family, and in continuing Dr. John Chisolm's legacy of giving. Thank you!
David Chisolm