In December 2016, our lives changed forever.  M was working on a river bank north of Perry, cutting down trees and a very large limb fell and hit him on the head.  He suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, with a long list of other complications. When we transferred to Sparrow Specialty, M had still not really woken up. We had a very long road ahead of us. 

I met so many wonderful people at Sparrow Specialty. They were all so kind and helpful, and taught me so many things that I had to learn, but there was one person who stood out from the rest. Zac Medler aka #1, you know when you meet someone and you just know they are going to make an impact on your life and always be a part of it, that’s Zac.  He was extraordinary and I never would have made it through all the ups and downs without him.  He took such wonderful care of M and even myself. He would explain everything to me no matter how many times I had to ask. He was honest about what things we were dealing with. I could go into so many details on what he did for us we would all be here until tomorrow.  

When they brought M into the hospital, they only knew his first name, so they named him M Radish and he was 102 years old. Dr Bill, M’s brain surgeon told me M was a man of steel to be able to survive what happened to him. That was how Team Radish was born. We had t-shirts made with the Super M on the front and Team Radish on the back and we passed those out to everyone we could at Sparrow Specialty on the day M was going to have his bone flap replaced. We also bought Zac a Superman cape because he is our hero and he changed our lives for the better. 

So now we get to the fun stuff. We had an ongoing joke between Zac and Evan about being #1 and #2. Every day they would do things to try and see who could get the #1 position. You guys don’t know how much that helped to take my mind off things and to make me feel normal. It’s hard to explain but just know that it meant so much to me.  

It was bittersweet when we were transferred to Origami, I was happy M was making progress and was doing so much better but I didn’t want to leave Zac.  I wish he could have come with us, but he actually did. We have kept in touch over the years and we have visited together and even done a news interview about the special bond between patients, families, and their caregivers.  

As you can see M has overcome so many obstacles that he has faced and is doing great. Zac, you are such a special nurse and person. You are caring and giving and patients mean something to you, you make everyone feel so at ease when you are with them. That is not something everyone can do. You made me laugh so many times and they say that is the best medicine.  I know M doesn’t really remember a lot about his time with you but I have told him everything and he so grateful for not only taking good care of him but for taking good care of me when he couldn’t.  We will forever be grateful for you and what you did for us. You will forever be in our lives and hold a piece of our hearts.