Obituaries
“I failed my memory test,” Nill informed him. Jefferson was ecstatic: “Do you know what good news that is? You remembered you failed the test.”
Later that day, Lufsy and Nill’s beach volleyball teammates met in the hospital lobby and signed a volleyball with get well wishes.
“We walked into the room and there he was sitting up, as handsome as can be, with his beautiful blue eyes,” said Lufsy. “I felt like he was my son. We all had a huddle and just cried. I can’t explain how happy I am. If I die tomorrow, I can feel like my life is fulfilled.”
You see, Lufsy has had her own share of medical trauma. She was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago and beat it, only to have it return three years later. Again, she went into remission, but it taught her to savor each day.
“I’m a cancer survivor so I always live my life with each day as a gift. Every day is spent trying to do something positive to help people change their lives for the better on a small scale — maybe through a healthier diet or exercise.”
She also collects hearts and gives them to people. “I gave Kevin a quartz heart to represent my heart and his heart,” she said. He held on to it in the hospital room, Jefferson confided.
Nill, who works for a downtown digital advertising agency, said Lufsy will be part of his life from now on. “We are just connected in a way most people will never have.” His near-death experience has reset his overall focus on the bigger picture
— on people and on love — rather than on little things that can bring you down every day.
The incident was traumatic for Jefferson, too, who received a call warning him to prepare for the worst. He was shocked because his partner was in top physical shape with no family history of heart ailments.
Jefferson urges people to take CPR training and have the “conversation” with loved ones about what they would want you to do in the face of a similar situation. “A car accident, a gun shot, a heart attack ... anything can happen in a heartbeat,” he said.
As for Lusfy, she doesn’t know why she veered from her routine on the morning of Feb. 9. She normally walks her dogs at 6:30 a.m., but on that day she got sidetracked playing her guitar and took them out closer to 7:30 a.m.
“Is there a reason she played her guitar too late Sunday morning and forgot to take the dogs out?” wondered Jefferson.
“I was meant to be there at that moment,” said Lufsy. “I don’t know why, but it’s life changing.” Not just for her but for all those involved, who noted that the sky is bluer, the grass is greener and the sun is more brilliant.”
“It’s such a blessing that he is alive and well and able to talk, and hug, and cry and laugh,” Lufsy said. “I am so over-the-top grateful.”
She has no doubt that if she hadn’t come along, the outcome would have been different.
“It’s surreal to take someone so young and keep them alive long enough that the (emergency room) doctors can work their miracle.”
diane.bell@sduniontribune.com