PETERS – To the staff at Royal Inland Hospital: Thank you

James Peters and his wife Jennie in his room at RIH. (Image: James Peters)

LIFE CAN CHANGE IN AN INSTANT. That instant comes for all of us — it just doesn’t have the common courtesy to warn us ahead of time.

For me, that instant came on a Saturday evening in November. My wife and teenage daughter dined out together and I remained home to supervise my son and two of his friends. I was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home.

While standing in the kitchen eating a slice of pizza, I was struck with a pain in my chest and back of a magnitude I had never experienced before. It felt as if all the soft tissue in my torso was being torn in two.

I lost my breath. I became nauseous. Not immediately grasping the seriousness of the situation, I retreated to a bathroom where I collapsed onto the floor.

Still conscious, I texted my wife two consecutive messages: “You have to come home” and “I need you.” Calling out to my son was futile; he and his friends were having fun in another part of the house and couldn’t hear me.