You Don’t Have to Die Alone
And how to help avoid it
The paramedics arrived in our ambulance bay with the patient we’d been expecting, CPR in progress. Full arrest.
Our staff is well trained and were fully prepared. Doctors, nurses, techs, respiratory therapists, all ready to do our best to revive the patient.
On arrival in the room, the patient was quickly moved to the ER bed and everyone jumped into action. Techs began CPR, nurses began starting IVs, cutting off clothing, attaching monitor and defibrillator leads. Doctors giving orders and monitoring the numbers. Respiratory therapist connected the breathing tube to the ventilator. All the acts needed to save a life.
I am often acutely aware of what’s going on in a scene like this, even as I am performing CPR. I noticed the patient’s clothes were tattered and dirty, obviously not laundered in a very long time. His body was smeared with dirt and soot. He’d been found inside a burning building, presumably homeless and squatting there for the night. He smelled of alcohol and smoke.
I remember thinking in the back of my mind how sad this was, that a man who was obviously alone in this life would also die alone. With no family there to see him off.
James 4:13–14
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
We lost the patient. He passed on with no one who loved him to see him go. Alone.
I want to encourage you all to make good decisions. Stay away from alcohol and drugs. You don’t have to be rich, but make something of yourself. Get a job and work hard. Prove yourself a good worker, and open up opportunities for yourself. Most importantly, be kind and loving to your family and your neighbors. If you don’t have any family, find some. There is no rule that says they have to be blood.
Proverbs 16:31
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.
Make sure your soul is ready for eternity by submitting to Jesus Christ.
Hint: That alone will make you a better, happier, more loving person, more beloved by those around you.
You don’t have to die alone.
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