Making the decision to take someone you love deeply off life support when the outlook is bleak is undoubtedly one of the hardest choices anyone can face.
Ryan Finley found himself in exactly that position after his wife, Jill, fell into a coma.
Ryan was the one who discovered Jill unresponsive and not breathing. He acted quickly, doing everything he could to bring her back to consciousness until paramedics arrived. He performed CPR and prayed for a miracle, even though he knew the odds were against them.
The paramedics managed to revive Jill, but her heart remained weak and her breathing shallow. She was rushed to the Oklahoma Heart Hospital, where she was placed in a cooling suit designed to protect her brain from further damage due to lack of oxygen. Sadly, she slipped into a coma.
Every day, Ryan prayed and held onto hope. But as the days turned into weeks, doctors informed him that Jill’s chances of recovery were virtually nonexistent. He was then faced with the heartbreaking request to consider removing her from life support.
Ryan wrote about that agonizing day in his diary, and his words reveal the depth of his pain.
“Today could be the worst day of my life. I have to decide whether she lives or dies,” he wrote, as reported by TODAY.
Trying to imagine what Jill would have wanted, Ryan believed she wouldn’t want to live like that, so he made the painful decision to agree.
The family gathered and said their goodbyes. When Jill was taken off life support, she was still alive. The doctors explained she was experiencing a “last rally,” a final burst of life before passing.
In that moment, Jill began mumbling. To Ryan’s astonishment, she uttered five words that shattered his heartbreak: “Get me out of here.” She asked to be taken to Melting Pot or Ted’s—two of her favorite Mexican restaurants.
Despite how impossible it sounded, Ryan believed she would pull through. And she did. Jill began breathing on her own, underwent heart surgery, and began the journey of rehabilitation.
Reflecting on her time in the coma, Jill said she doesn’t remember much but struggles with short-term memory and some speech difficulties. Otherwise, she feels well and is ready to embrace the second chance at life she’s been given.
The couple is grateful to still be together and stronger than ever. “We cherish every day, every minute, every hour now,” Jill told TODAY. “Not that we didn’t before, but it puts everything into perspective.”
