Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

Two Hearts Still Beating

Story by Christina Keresoma

Jerry Burrey has always been a hardworking man. He is a builder, and when his brother asked him to come over and help remove some bushes from his yard, he was there. His brother left to get something from his truck, but Burrey kept working. Soon his cellphone rang, and when he looked at it, he saw it was his brother. He thought that it was a mistake, so he declined the call. It rang again, so he answered it questionably. He heard mumbling and knew something was wrong. Burrey ran around the house and found his brother lying face down by his truck. He had suffererd a heart attack and was rushed to Sycamore Medical Center.

Burrey stayed by his brother’s side during the entire process at the hospital. He became friends with the physicians and nurses who cared for his brother, watching the care that was given and the healing that took place.

A few days after Christmas, Jerry felt some chest pain. He went to the Emergency Room, where he learned he was having heart issues and needed to see a cardiologist. Burrey knew exactly where he wanted to go and who he wanted taking care of him. He knew he needed the best care not only for him but for his family. He was now fighting for his life so that he could continue to be around for his family. “This whole process, the hardest thing about it was the effect that it had on my family. They made a bad situation tolerable,” he said.

After surgery, his physician shared the good news with his family in the waiting room that Burrey was doing just fine, and everyone was overcome with joy.

He is eternally grateful for what the physicians and staff did for him during his stay in the hospital. “If I was a rich man, I would build a wing on the hospital, but I am not,” burrey said. He and his wife celebrated 47 years of marriage while he was in the hospital, and while it wasn’t an ideal place to celebrate an anniversary Jerry is thankful that he will now be able to celebrate many more.

 

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