After tying the knot, newlyweds often fantasize about spending the next few decades together. Nonetheless, we all know that life is unpredictable and may present many surprises.
A routine Saturday morning in May of 2007 he dawned for Ryan Finley. He checked the clock and decided it was time to wake his wife, Jill Finley. After the fact, he reflected, “I went to wake Jill up,” which was miraculous in and of itself since he “never, ever” did so on Saturday mornings.
But she did not answer when he shouted her name. Shocked, he tried shaking her, but she still didn’t react. Following that, he became fearful and anxious. After realizing his wife was in distress, Ryan phoned for help and began CPR. When the paramedics finally came, they loaded her into an ambulance and took off for the hospital. His pickup cautiously trailed the ambulance.
After arriving at the hospital and receiving an evaluation, doctors determined that Jill had had a cardiac arrest. Medical operations were performed on Jill to stabilize her condition as Ryan waited outside the emergency hospital.
Ryan’s wife’s condition has worsened, and the doctor who came out to give him an update urged him to pray. When a doctor instructs you to start praying, Ryan said, “I feel like it’s about as serious as it’s going to get.” Afterward, physicians told Ryan that his wife had gone into a coma. He couldn’t believe his gorgeous, vibrant wife of 31 years was in a struggle for her life.
Throughout Jill’s two weeks in a coma, she and Ryan’s family and friends received many well-wishers. Another of Jill’s relatives that came along was a cousin who carried a Bible. For a good hour, he stood and read aloud from the Bible to Jill. He gave Ryan the Bible and told him to read anything he wanted from it whenever he wanted. In the years following, Ryan would try to wake up his sleeping wife by reading aloud from the Bible.
As Jill remained in a coma for 11 days, Ryan decided to spend some time alone at home. Doctors had advised him to remove Jill from life support, and he toyed with the idea. She was taken off life support because doctors said there was little hope for a recovery.
Even though he knew it meant Jill probably wouldn’t make it through the night, the following day, he ordered to remove of her life support. After 14 days in a coma, her life support was turned off.
Jill began to move and babble around 5 hours after her life support was turned off. Ryan left the room, fearing he was witnessing the death of his vivacious wife and waited outside till she died away.
He then vividly remembers the nurse coming out and saying, “I believe you need to come in. She’s talking.” He thought he would get a last moment to say goodbye to his wife inside. The moment he went in, he heard Jill chatting, he recalled. Get me out of here was the first thing she said.
Ryan was astonished, but he wasn’t sure if it was simply lucid mumbling, so he asked her questions only she could answer if she was there. She correctly responded to his questions on the names of their dogs and some mental arithmetic. She specifically requested that the couple have supper at her favorite Mexican eatery.
Jill subsequently said that she had no recollection of the coma and just felt as if she had been absent for some time before returning. When asked in an interview what he felt had brought his wife back, Ryan said, “God. An act of God. Honestly, that’s how I think. As Jill woke up, not everything went back to normal. Her motor abilities, such as brushing her teeth and lacing her shoes, had to be relearned from scratch.
Their new lease on life and love inspires the pair to commit to one another more than ever before. She would not want to spend the rest of her life as a “vegetable,” thus Jill thinks Ryan made the proper choice in turning off her life support.
Ryan still has lingering concerns about the incident and claims he checks in with her often to ensure she is still there. Hardly a single night goes by without him waking up, he claims. “If we’re having problems, I’ll kick her, and if she gives me one right back, we’re good to go.”