Living and Dying Moment by Moment

Living and Dying Moment by Moment

Jean Louise Quino/Diabetic Products

She was lying there with a smile on her face as I entered her private room. Jessica, my childhood best friend had just given birth to a bouncing baby boy. I noticed her color had come back to her. Finally I had seen the last of her horrible ghastly paleness she had from her massive blood loss. She had survived a Cesarean delivery at a very young age of nineteen.

I decided to come to her to tell her something very important, while at the same time try my best not to tell something she would regret or be thankful of for the rest of her life. I had hoped I could have the chance to tell her the 'secret' of her survival in a way that would build her up.

The secret I was trying to keep from her until the right time was my encounter with a man of courage and honor who I believed has seen the very face of the Light of Life. I dare not mention his name, so I would just refer to him as Nameless.

It started when I received a call from Jessica's husband Mickey who at that time was rushing through a tough traffic along the highway. Jessica's waters had broke and he was no less than a two-hour trip away to get to Jessica. So I got up and rushed to Jessica's apartment which was only two blocks away from mine. As I was frantically helping my best friend walk through the hall, a scrawny young man found us and carried Jessica on his arms with such ease and at that moment, Jessica lost consciousness. 

I managed to get Jessica to the nearest hospital thanks to the young man who suddenly looked like he had grown mature since he carried my laboring friend.

My heart pounded like a thousand marching bands as I looked at my best friend through the delivery room window. The doctor had just told me that since she was unconscious, they would perform a Cesarean delivery for Jessica's baby. My heart sank even deeper into the abyss after the doctor said that she would be needing a lot of blood or else she or her baby would die-- and worse, I didn't know anyone who had a blood type AB.

Suddenly I found myself sitting down on the hospital floor with my heart filled with anguish and hopelessness until a rough hand took hold of my shaking right hand and stood me up. It was the brave young man who helped me.

"Don't worry, miss" he said, "I have a sufficient supply of blood type AB running though my arteries".

My soul was overcome with joy. The young man had helped us a lot and he was even willing to donate his blood! But when I took a more careful look at him, I thought he was too thin. He insisted though. Surprisingly, he passed the test and was eligible to donate his blood.

I had no idea that the next hours would possibly the most enlightening moment of my life. As Nameless' blood was siphoned to the blood bags, I had a chance to ask him a few questions.

"Why have you decided to help my best friend with so much?" I asked.

He just laughed. "I'm not helping anybody but myself alone", he said. His answer had me asking more questions about him.

I learned that he had been a member of a very rich family but he had decided to live by his own in the streets, feeding only on what is free. He never had any money since he left his previous life. Despite that, I only saw a radiance of pure joy and freedom in his eyes as he relayed his story to me.

I also learned that he once had Type 1 diabetes while he was living with his family. He had fallen into a deep coma for three days until a miracle happened on the third day when after being at the brink of death, he suddenly sat up fully healed.

When I heard he once had diabetes, a part of me was disappointed at him for not telling the nurses of his medical history. But why tell me at that time?

As though he knew what I was thinking, he smiled at me saying the words that would go on and on in my mind.

"People are so afraid of death because they are bound to their lives. What they do not know is that the life they are currently having is not the only life they have. You may see that one man's death is another man's life but the truth is more than just heroism, because each and all of us dies and being born moment by moment".

I was so mesmerized by the depth of his words that I never thought those would turn out be his last. First, I noticed twitching, then a mild seizure, then difficulty in breathing. The next thing I knew, his breathing stopped. I frantically called the nurses to the room. They rushed over to attend to Nameless but it's too late. His heart had stopped beating. It was a heart attack, a very rare and isolated case in the history of blood donations. 

Just as they were taking Nameless' body out of the room, another nurse ran into the room taking the blood bags. Jessica had given birth and was losing a lot of blood, fast.

I was in a state of shock. Things were happening too fast. A man had just died in front of me and my best friend was at the brink of death. I was about to break down until I heard a baby crying from the delivery room. 

"Life", I thought. I was so preoccupied on thinking about death that I forgot to think about life. Nameless had been living a life that everyone else in this world is running away from. He managed to live through the hardships and being alone. To him, life here is not only about surviving longer until the day of death, it is living life in abundance as it truly is. That's what enabled him to more than just conquer his diabetes, he conquered death itself as feared by many. He conquered death so emphatically that offering his blood is nothing to him, even if it meant death. He had said that the life he currently have is not the only life he had. He has the Life.

I went out from the room with much empowerment. I learned that Jessica had lost so much blood that all the blood that Nameless donated was nothing short of 'sufficient' as he confidently said. Had Nameless kept his blood to himself, it wouldn't be enough for Jessica to live. He risked it all, up to the last drop for my best friend and her baby to live.

Now her baby boy grew up to be a good soccer player, a virtuoso pianist, and a happy youth. I still haven't told Jessica about Nameless, but sure I told her about Life.

Just three days ago, I witnessed an accident. A boy playing on the street was hit by a speeding car. I ran to help the boy. A street sweeper who was passing by also ran towards the boy. As we helped the boy up, I accidentally hit and took off his hat. And I could not believe my eyes.

It was Nameless.