You Never Know

This is a true story. One day, I was walking on the beach with my family and saw a man who was obviously having difficulty breathing and could barely stand up. I offered to help him, and at first he politely refused, but when I persisted and mentioned that I was a nurse who had cared for children with heart transplants he relented.  I guess I'm kind of persistent that way.  I did a quick assessment, saw that he was in congestive heart failure, and had over taxed himself walking on the beach. He wasn't in any imminent danger of having a heart attack, but needed to rest, get some fluids and peel off the layers of heavy clothing.

I gave him some water, got him to sit on a fence and stayed with him for about 30 minutes checking his heart, his pulse, his breathing.  We talked for a long time as I got him to his car very slowly. We swapped stories and I managed to learn his health history. 

He was worried that he had ruined my day and kept me from my family because of his declining health.  I joked, "Well, it's my birthday, so nothing bad can happen today. Having to do CPR would really have been difficult for both of us, so I think we're both in the plus column." 

We finally made it to his car, where his wife was anxiously waiting.  I made sure he was ok, in no danger of having a heart attack, gave detailed instructions to his wife about when to go to the hospital, reassured them about the care they would get nearby, and made them promise they would call their own doctor.  We waved goodbye. 

His wife pressed a business card in to my hand before she hopped in beside him, and asked me to be in touch with them. I pocketed the business card and went to the beach to celebrate my birthday. I called his number 2 days later to check on him. He and his wife were grateful and asked me to dinner, which I declined. Yet he insisted, and we went to his home in the hills. Turns out, the man I helped was a self-made billionaire and one of the richest men in the world. He donated millions to libraries, colleges and hospitals. He knew presidents and world leaders. Going to the mansion, being served by a butler, yes a butler was a surreal experience right out of a movie script. It was jaw-dropping.  You see, You never know.

He later told me that he asked me to come to his house because he had the feeling that I would have stopped to help anyone, no matter who they were or what their life story was. Which is true, because I've met people from all walks of life, it's the nurse's training, to stop and help.

I guess life is like a box of chocolates, you never know who or what you're going to encounter.