Young couples who marry typically believe they have years to construct their lives and grow together. However, as we all know, life can be highly unexpected and toss you a curveball you never saw coming!
Ryan Finley awoke on a Saturday in May 2007 and all appeared to be normal. When he glanced at the time, he decided he should also wake up his wife, Jill Finley.
He went to get Jill up, he later said, which is a miracle in itself because he never, ever does that on Saturday mornings.
He called her name, but she didn’t answer. Concerned, he started to shake her but had no response from her. He became frightened and worried after that. Ryan dialed 911 while conducting CPR on his wife.
When paramedics came, they immediately moved her to an ambulance to transport her to the hospital. In his pickup, he followed the ambulance carefully.
When they arrived at the hospital and medical personnel checked Jill’s condition, they determined that she had experienced a heart arrest.
Jill performed necessary medical operations to maintain her, while Ryan waited outside the emergency hospital, obtaining updates on his wife’s status every so often.
When the doctor eventually came out to inform Ryan of his wife’s condition, he finished by encouraging him to pray. When a doctor tells you that you need to start praying. He feels like that’s about as serious as it’s going to get, Ryan stated.
Soon later, Ryan learned that his wife was in a coma. He couldn’t believe his lovely and full-of-life 31-year-old wife was struggling for her life.
Throughout Jill’s two weeks in a coma, a continuous stream of guests came to see her and Ryan and offer their support. Jill’s cousin also showed there, carrying a Bible. He stood for at least an hour and read the Bible to Jill.
He gave Ryan the Bible and told him to read whichever parts he wanted from it. Ryan would read Bible verses aloud to his wife after that day, hoping she would wake up.
Ryan went home to be alone for a bit after Jill had been in a coma for 11 days. He considered removing Jill from life support, as the physicians advised. Doctors feared her health would not progress and urged that she be taken off life support.
He was aware that it meant Jill would likely die soon, but the next day he instructed physicians to end his wife’s life. Life support was removed from her on the 14th day of her coma.
Jill began to move and babble around 5 hours after she was withdrawn from life support. Ryan couldn’t bear watching what he felt were his vivacious wife’s final moments and went out into the waiting room till she died.
The nurse came out and said, she believes he needs to come in, she’s talking, he remembers well.
He walked in anticipating to have one more talk with his wife. He stepped in and Jill was chatting, he remembers. ‘Get me out of here,’ she said first. ‘I’m ready to go home.’
Ryan was stunned but unclear if this is just lucid murmuring, so he peppered her with questions that she could only respond to if she was totally there. He asked her the names of their dogs and a few mental math problems, all of which she accurately replied. She even requested that she be taken to her favorite Mexican restaurant for supper.
Jill subsequently stated that she had no recollection of the coma, only that she had been absent for some time and then returned. When Ryan was asked in an interview what he felt brought his wife back, he promptly answered, “God.” Divine intervention is required. That is how he truly feels.
Not all returned to its previous state once Jill awoke. She had to relearn certain motor skills, such as brushing her teeth and tying her shoe laces, from scratch.
The pair views this as a second shot at life and their relationship and vows to always be at one other’s side. Jill believes Ryan made the correct decision by withdrawing her from life support because she does not want to live her life as a “vegetable.”
Ryan’s nervousness and dread from the entire experience persist, and he claims he regularly checks to make sure she’s still there. There isn’t a night that goes by that he doesn’t wake up, he adds. He normally kicks her, and if she kicks back, he knows they’re all right.
You’d never realize it when life gives you a second opportunity! We are overjoyed that Ryan and Jill Finley are doing well.
