Playing Witness to Death

today i want to share a page from my friend's blog. he just went through a brain surgery to have the tumor removed. this is what he wrote in his blog. girls, if you have the time, please read. thank you.

''That same morning, I saw something that I will remember for the rest of my life. In my blurry state of semi-conciousness, I was woken by the sound of panic. There were people running frantically all around me. The doctors and nurses were talking very loudly, almost shouting, but I wasn’t sure what about. But then in the background I noticed a continuous monotone beep and came to the sickening realisation that it was the sound of a heart monitor flat-lining. The second shock came as I realised that it was for the guy who was lying in the bed right next to me

He wasn’t particularly old, he looked in his early fifties. A bit frail, but then again so were most of the people in intensive care. I had noticed him earlier but he looked like any other patient there - he certainly didn’t look anywhere close to death.

The nurses rushed to pull the curtain around his bed to hide what was happening but there was no mistaking the frantic silhouette of a young doctor trying to revive him with CPR, using the weight of his entire body to push down on the man’s chest in a desperate effort to try and get a heartbeat. It was like a scene from E.R., except it was real and happening right next to me. All the time, underlining all the noise and commotion, was the persistent, monotonous beep that was telling everyone that none of it was working.

After what felt like hours (but it must have just been a just a few minutes) I heard the voice of someone who I can only assume was the senior doctor on duty. His exact words, which will stay with me for the rest of my life, were:

“Paul, stop. Don’t waste your effort. It’s already the end”.

This was shortly followed by the sound of the dead man’s wife and daughter being brought in to say their final goodbyes along with all of the crying and hysteria that you would expect to come with that.

It was pretty harrowing, but it did make me reflect on my own situation afterwards: I had been fortunate in so many ways, I discovered my tumour early and completely by chance, my surgery had been smooth, I was alive and well, and at that moment I felt that I had been blessed and was deeply grateful for it.

It’s a cliché but good health is indeed a blessing and should never be taken for granted. It’s only when you lose it or when you see someone else lose theirs do you really appreciate its importance. Not just to you, but also to those around you. If you have yours be grateful for it and do whatever you can to look after it. You only have one body after all.''

for whatever we have today right here right now, we are all blessed.