Don’t compare your Path with anybody else’s'. Your Path is unique to you. Whatever Path you take it's God calling you.
Spreading Hope By Helena Jacobson, The Ray of Life Foundation Southern California Emergency Physicians Newsletter, June 2003 Hope is an emotion that stirs in us a warm feeling of desire, of expectation, of promise. As young people we are full of hope, and full of dreams. We all dream about what we want to be when we grow up. We all dream about the moment when we will meet and fall in love with our life partners. We all hope that when we grow up and have our own children we can teach them about love, about hope and about reaching for our dreams.
I spent 20 years in healthcare helping others hang on to hope. And after losing my sister Agneta at the age of 24 years old....my other sister, Marianne at the age of 36 years old....my father, Bengt at the age of 62 years old and my best friend, Emily at the everlasting age of "29 years old". I still had dreams... ...and for some magnificent reason they all came true. I was not a young adult when I fell hard in love. I was 37 years old when I met my life partner. And, I would be 41 years old when I finally learned what I was meant to be when I grew up. This article serves as a reminder about how even in the most tragic moments hope not only survives, but it thrives.
The Ray of Life Foundation was born out of the tragic and untimely death of Dr. Raymond Roberts Jacobson at the age of 39. I was pregnant with our baby boy, after an earlier ectopic pregnancy. Ray was so busy being happy he often dismissed his bouts of Supra Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT) as too much caffeine. He explained to me that he had an extra pathway in his heart but that SVT in and of itself wouldn't kill him. The day after the Superbowl in 2001, Ray suffered a lethal arrhythmia and Sudden Death.
That last day of his life, the day of that Superbowl, Ray tried in vain to ward off the episodes of SVT with mega doses of his medication, Verapimil.Maybe too much so. I spoke with him at 9pm he wanted to make sure I had taken my progesterone because he was going to bed. Less than 12 hours later he would be dead. And, so were our dreams, but not our hope.
Ray was a healer. He believed in saving the world …one life at a time. As, Director of Emergency Medicine at San Clemente Hospital, he saved lives every day. The Ray of Life Foundation is a tribute to his extraordinary career as a human being. The Foundation continues his legacy by saving lives in the memory of a man who saved so very many.
Ray’s sudden death gave me determination and courage I never knew I possessed. As I traveled through the tunnel of grief, I was tumbled and tossed... but my focus remained steadfast. Ray’s death had an enormous impact on those that knew him and even those who didn’t. Ray was a special guy, a stand up guy. He always did what he said he was going to do. He stood by his word no matter what. No ego. In fact if you didn’t know he was a doc, you wouldn't know, because he never introduced himself as “doctor” Jacobson. Ray was just another guy in shorts and tennis shoes. All he cared about was God, his family, USC, fishing and golf...And, in that order!
Shortly after we were married in 1999. Three days to be exact. His body tried to send him a message. We were opening wedding presents, when suddenly I was driving him to the ER. He was admitted with acute pancreatitis and a day later he was in the ICU on a vent with Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome. He suffered from unexplained infections. Lines coming out of every part of his body may have been the culprit's path. Our friends, doctors James Truong, Pat Brotman and Peter Rothenberg saved his life.
Peter came in one day and told me to call the priest. I did and, I called his family. We prayed for more time together. I never left his side. I slept in a chair for nine days and then...Our prayers were answered. Ten days later we were home again with strict orders to change his lifestyle.
Now how the heck do you tell a guy that driven that he has to slow down? Well, we tried. He tried. Sadly it was too late. The damage to his heart was irreversible. His father had died from SCA. His brother suffers abnormal arrhythmias. His SVT was becoming an annoyingly frequent visitor.
Later that year, I became a volunteer with the American Heart Association on the Women's Council for Heart. I had always been a volunteer as long as I can remember. By this time in my life, I was serving on 5 other service organizations. So when I was asked to represent community relations for Operation Heartbeat in Orange County, I was thrilled. Ray, with great optimism said “keep on raising that hand honey!”
I explained to him that Operation Heartbeat's objective was to strengthen the Chain of Survival by calling 911, performing CPR, public access of AEDs and getting victims to the hospital quickly. Ray was more than happy to offer his seasoned, professional opinion on where to place AEDs. “The beaches and the golf courses. And, while you are at it, think about the police, they are often the first to respond”. He explained.
Now, the fact that the ocean and the 9th hole both represent two of Ray’s favorite pastimes, have nothing to do with it. His advice was solid. As solid as he was. That conversation took place on January 8th. Three weeks later he would be dead. Ironically from the very illness we were working towards trying to prevent.
In the weeks following his death, a colleague of Ray's approached me. Larry explained that a group of “docs” wanted to do something for Ray… Something meaningful to memorialize him. He asked me to think about what they might do. Well, it didn't take long for the light bulb to come on. What could be more fitting, more meaningful to memorialize this exceptional man? An AED placed in a location that he recommended, that's what!
And so, 4 months pregnant, I started the Ray Jacobson Memorial Fund. The community rose to the occasion. We raised over $40,000. As a result, 16 AEDs were donated to the City of San Clemente. At present, nine Sheriffs vehicles, the Municipal golf course, City lifeguard vehicles and State lifeguard towers carry these lifesaving AEDs. Because of Ray Jacobson’s unexpected death, the community of San Clemente is safer place to be.
I returned to work after Anthony Ray was born. It wasn't long before I realized that it was time to move on. If I were to stay there, in the womb, surrounded by our friends and coworkers, I would remain in my grief. I would not move forward. I knew in my heart I had to leave. I had more work to do. Much more work. Rays death had left me a job to complete. More lives to save. A calling. A legacy.
On the anniversary of Ray’s death in 2003, The Ray of Life Foundation was formed. We are managed by PHFE a 501(3) c corporation. In early 2003, the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the Orange County Fire authority both adopted Resolutions supporting The Ray of Life Foundation. Sheriff Michael Carona has promised to place AEDs in every county vehicle by the year 2006.
It is the goal of The Ray of Life Foundation to provide public access to early defibrillation. In doing so, we will save lives, we will enhance Southern California’s emergency preparedness and we will strengthen the Chain of Survival from Sudden Cardiac Death. We know that by initiating public access and deployment of AEDs, we will increase survival rates significantly, perhaps as much as 30 to 60%.
Any group, business, organization or individual can help save lives by establishing Public Access to Defibrillation.
The Ray of Life Foundation seeks to help others do just that. The Foundation offers assistance in developing all aspects of implementing an AED or PAD program at home, at work or in the line of duty. Through private donations and grants we provide assistance and donate AEDs to those qualified businesses wishing to help us save lives. We are saving lives in the memory of a man who saved so many.
If the efforts of the Ray of Life Foundation can spare but one family the devastation left after the loss of a loved one to Sudden Cardiac Death, then surely we will have succeeded.
Hope is knowing that brain death can be delayed by early defibrillation. Hope knows that early defibrillation can mean the difference between life and death. Placing AEDs is our way of spreading hope. Hope knows that when Sudden Cardiac Strikes, defibrillation will be only be seconds away.
As we travel down this path, we are afforded the opportunity of Ray's continued guidance. Knowing and believing that what we give ultimately returns to us, it is all part of the Plan. And so it comes around and it does so abundantly.
Remember to keep reaching for your dreams. And, remember Ray, because you never know when memories may be all you have left.
