Young couples usually expect to have many years together to build their lives and grow. But life can be very unpredictable and throw unexpected challenges their way.
On a Saturday in May 2007, Ryan Finley woke up thinking everything was normal. He checked the time and realized he needed to wake his wife, Jill Finley.
“I went to wake Jill up, which was unusual because I never do that on Saturday mornings,” he later said.
He called her name, but she didn’t respond. When he shook her and still got no reply, he started to get worried and scared. Ryan quickly called for emergency help and began performing CPR on Jill.
When the paramedics arrived, they put her in an ambulance and took her to the hospital. Ryan followed the ambulance in his truck.
At the hospital, doctors found out that Jill had a cardiac arrest. They worked to stabilize her while Ryan waited outside the emergency room, getting updates on her condition.
When the doctor finally came out to update Ryan, he ended by telling Ryan to pray. Ryan realized how serious things were when the doctor said that.
Soon after, the doctors told Ryan that Jill was in a coma. He couldn’t believe that his vibrant 31-year-old wife was fighting for her life.
While Jill was in a coma for two weeks, many visitors came to see her and offer support. One of Jill’s cousins came with a Bible and read to Jill for about an hour. He left the Bible with Ryan, telling him to read from it if he wanted to. After that, Ryan began reading passages from the Bible out loud to Jill, hoping she would wake up.
After Jill had been in a coma for 11 days, Ryan went home to think things over. The doctors suggested taking her off life support because they didn’t think she would improve. Ryan knew this meant Jill might pass away soon, but he decided to go ahead with it.
On the 14th day of her coma, they removed her from life support. About 5 hours later, Jill started to move and mumble. Ryan, thinking these were her final moments, stepped out to the waiting area.
He remembers clearly when a nurse came out and said, “I think you need to come in, she’s talking.”
He went in expecting to have a final conversation with Jill. To his surprise, Jill was awake and talking. The first thing she said was, “Get me out of here. I want to go home.”
Ryan was shocked and wanted to make sure she was really back, so he asked her questions she could only answer if she was fully conscious. He asked about their pets and gave her some simple math problems, all of which she answered correctly. She even mentioned wanting to go to her favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Jill later said she didn’t remember the coma, only that she felt like she had been away for a while and then returned. In an interview, Ryan said he believed it was “God” or “divine intervention” that brought her back.
Things didn’t go back to normal right away. Jill had to relearn basic skills like brushing her teeth and tying her shoelaces.
The couple sees this as a second chance at life and makes sure they are always there for each other. Jill feels that Ryan made the right decision by removing her from life support because she wouldn’t have wanted to live without quality of life.
Even though the experience was terrifying, Ryan still checks to make sure Jill is okay. He says he often wakes up during the night, and if he kicks her and she kicks him back, he knows everything is alright.
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