This is a story of personal tragedy and two healing professions: human and veterinary.
I’m sure most of you didn’t hear about my wife, Deanne, and the horrific injury she suffered while we vacationed in Costa Rica in late May. The synopsis: A 5-foot-long tree limb broke off high above us in the rainforest and fell to earth as we toured a series of waterfalls. It struck Deanne, leaving her paralyzed from the chest down, and missed me by a couple of feet.
Since that day, Deanne, an RN for 33 years, has been unrelenting in her determination to walk again and return to her job managing 400 nurses and staff. Her persistent optimism as she faces months, if not years, of physical rehabilitation stunned me, as did what she said during her hospitalization in Costa Rica: “It is what it is. Now I have to find the silver lining.”
For Deanne, the first silver lining was her astounding survival. A couple of inches this way or that and the limb would have killed her outright. The second was the EMT who wasn’t in our tour group but rushed to Deanne’s side to take control of her immediate care. The third was the instantaneous support of the administrators and nurses back at her hospital in Southern California. From 2,700 miles away, they communicated with the spinal surgeon and medical team in San Jose, Costa Rica, started a GoFundMe campaign to pay for our emergency flight home, and helped cut through international and insurance company red tape.
For me personally, a silver lining was the response of the veterinary community. Industry leaders, NAVC colleagues, Today’s Veterinary Business writers and other veterinary professionals donated to the cause and flooded Deanne and me with well wishes. When your wife has a potentially life-threatening condition and is a six-hour air ambulance flight from home, every encouraging word from friends and strangers reinforces in you that you’re not alone.
Not until I was back from Costa Rica did I get a chance to read Dr. Andy Roark’s latest column, which you’ll find on Page 90. His call for everyone to “strike matches of hope when things around us look dark” was poignant.