Sadness Hits the Company

I came back to work today after a week's vacation to hear some sad news. JG, one of the company's original employees, suffered a serious illness last week. He celebrated the 4th of July, and then the very next day suffered an aortic aneurysm.

I saw a note on the bulletin board that he was in the hospital--my first thought was maybe he had an operation. About an hour later, another employee walked in and told me what happened. I couldn't believe it. Apparently, he just doubled over, and another relative found him on the floor at home and got him to the hospital. His aneurysm burst, and blood just drained from his body. He has not regained consciousness, and they have had to amputate both legs above the knee. When he lost so much blood, his legs were quickly in danger of becoming gangrenous. He didn't know he had an aneursym. I have looked on the web, and there are some symptoms and ways to screen for aneurysms. But I also read that sometimes men over 50 don't have symptoms of aneurysms.

I am not a kid anymore, but I still don't think I believe in my mortality. So things like this shake me to my core. JG is such a wonderful person. He retired a few years back but came into the office a few months ago, and he looked so healthy and alive. It's hard to believe this happened. I can't help but think what if this happened to me. Being in a coma is one thing--you might call it a blessing in this case. I can't imagine this happening first off--then to possibly awake and find that you don't have your legs is horrific. I can't imagine the horror.

When my relative and his partner started the company almost 40 years ago, JG was handpicked to help get the fledgling company off the ground. He devoted his life to the company. Our company bucks the trend in that we hire relatives--many people who work there also have a mother, a brother, a grandmother, a son, who work there. JG's brother, son, and sister-in-law have all worked for the company. I have known him since I was a teenager. Not only do we cry for JG as a fellow former employee, but we also cry for him as a member of the family.