March 10, 2006

My wonderful friend and neighbour Lorraine was diagnosed with lymphoma 18 months ago. She was a true fighter, even trying stem cell treatment before Christmas.

After hearing you speak on CFRB I decided that Lorraine should be the "poster girl" for this jewellery as she was not willing to give up hope. She wore that pendant every day. While talking to friends or the medical staff she would talk about how it was a true symbol of hope for her. Lorraine died last week with her pendant on. I was with her when she died. When her will was read her wishes were to have it on when she was buried.

I would like to commend you for your compassion and insight...This was a true inspiration for Lorraine and on behalf of all her friends and her co-workers, I would like to thank you and encourage you to spread the word about your symbol of hope.

Thank You

Nancy

Christmas Away From Home

My sister-in-law is my 11:59 Story... she was the strength I needed at a moment when I felt pathetically incapable of thinking straight to make an unfortunate and disappointing situation work out just fine.

My husband and I had travelled out of town for the Christmas holidays to be with family, so I had to pack our children's stockings (which come from Santa) for them to open with their cousins Christmas morning. It was Christmas Eve and I had just tucked my kids into bed and listened to their excited chatter about hopes of Santa leaving that one special thing for each of them in their stockings. I left the room with a happy heart and big smile because I knew that we had both of these items for them. We didn't start to unload the packed gifts from our travels until 10:00pm Christmas Eve as we knew that everything was ready to go and simply needed to be put out under the tree. This was when the very sick realization came that the box containing ALL of my daughter's stocking items and most of her presents did not get packed, nor did the one special item that my son was so desperately hoping Santa would leave him. I simply fell apart thinking about the look on their faces in the morning when they realized there was nothing at all from Santa and that he must have forgotten them, yet remembered everyone else. I just did not see how I could avoid disappointing them.

My sister-in-law was not at home at the time, but the minute she returned (coincidentally, very close to 11:59!) she simply looked at me and said "we'll make it work". We managed to scrounge up a few items for the kids that she had luckily in her closet and wrapped them up and filled their stockings. The next morning the kids woke up and were so excited to be with their cousins that they didn’t even notice that what they had asked for wasn’t there. To my Sister-in-Law...THANKS for showing me how to never give up!!

Coma

A friend of mine was diagnosed with heart disease. He needed to have bypass heart surgery. He went into the hospital and during his operation he went into a coma. It wasn’t a good sign. He was on life support and needed a traciotamy to help him breath. The coma lasted for six weeks and then I phoned my friends wife to say, “don’t you think its time to pull the plug. He’s suffered enough and he wouldn’t want to go on like this.” The doctors were saying the same thing. The coma has gone on to long and you should consider pulling life support. My friend’s wife was getting really annoyed and said she would not pull the plug under any circumstances. 3 days later my friend woke up from his coma and he was absolutely fine. We all couldn’t believe this miracle. If she would have listened to the doctors or me he may not have been around. She didn’t ever give up on her husband and it’s a good thing she didn’t because he is healthy and still alive. The amazing thing about this is that while he was in the coma he heard what everyone was saying. He heard the doctors saying they should pull the plug. He is grateful that his wife never gave up.

NHL Referee

I was a referee for a long time. Backs then the clubs were separate and there was a lot more referees around. The club decided to amalgamate and they let a number of us go. I was one of them. I couldn't believe it. This was my life and I didn’t know anything else. I phoned the national referee association and asked why I was cut because I was one of the best out there. The association told me that I was too fat, there were enough fat guys around and they didn’t need any more. That spring, I was determined to change my life. I went on a strict diet and exercise program and lost 60lbs. Once I was in shape, I contacted the referee association again and asked them to give me another chance. It was because of reputation that they did and I am still a referee to this day. I didn’t give up on my dream and I fought for what I wanted.

Escaped

The war was over and it was a miserable time in my life. I didn’t know where the rest of my family was and I was all-alone. I was still in the eastern part of Germany and wanted to go to the west. I had heard that people had food and were free to get jobs and earn a living. I met a man who new my father very well and liked him so he told me he would do me a favour. A train was leaving from the east to the west that night. He told me to be on the train. Of course I didn’t have any passport or papers and this was problem because if any official caught me, they would shoot me right on the spot. My father’s friend said that when you get to the border, pretend that you are sleeping and that you just got off the night shift. I did just that. We arrived at the border. I was on the train with several other men who all had their papers in order. I was facing the wall of the train and pretending to be asleep. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. The guard came in and asked all the men for their passports. Then he came to me and pushed me with his gun and said “wake up, show me your passport”. The men in the train spoke up and said, “leave him alone, he just got off the night shift, he’s fine”. He shoved me again and I just groaned, pretending to be asleep. It was silent and I thought for sure he was going to shoot me. Just then I heard him turn around and walk out of the train. We made it into the west. One more second of doubt from the guard and I would have been shot.

My Baby Boy

I have four children and I thought that was going to be it. One night I had terrible cramps and started bleeding so I went to the hospital and they told me I was pregnant and it was likely and entopic pregnancy and was going to lose the baby. I stayed over night for observations. A week later, I went back into the hospital for a check up and they said I wasn’t pregnant any more. A couple of days later I had cramps again so they did further tests and said I was still pregnant but was still going to lose the baby. They gave me a laproscopy to clear out my tubes but said they couldn’t find the baby. They were going to give me a D & C but I told them to wait. They still said I was going to lose the baby. A week later I went back to my doctor who did an ultra sound and found the heartbeat. She said she doesn’t know how this baby was still inside me but he was. I was afraid that he wasn’t going to be all right so I just prayed. I had hope that he would be fine. He is now 10 months old and a healthy beautiful boy. If I had consented to the D & C I would have lost him for sure, but something inside me told me not to give up and my little miracle was born.

Car Accident

It was a rainy dark night. We were coming home from a friend’s house when the rain started to hit the street in a downpour. It was very hard to see. We were coming up to a street light and a truck lost control and hit us head on. We were injured pretty badly. The driver of the truck died but luckily my family only had broken bones and concussions. My arm was smashed and they started operating on it right away in a chance to save it. A couple of hours later, the doctors came out to my wife and said that there was no way we could save the arm and we have to amputate. My wife just said no. She doesn’t know why she said it. She wasn’t the type of person to defy orders from a doctor but she did. That was more than 41 years ago and I still have a full functioning arm. If my wife had wavered in way, my arm would have been gone.

Accident

My wife and I were coming from a company function late one night. We were driving along a four-lane street when we stopped at a stoplight. Just as I was putting my foot on the gas, a person ran out in front of the car and I hit him. He flew in the air and landed on the sidewalk. The ambulance came and took the person to the hospital. He only had a broken leg and rib. It could have been a lot worse. The police started questioning me and three witnesses came forward and said that I had failed to stop at the light and that it was my fault I hit him. The questioning started to get intense and then they arrested me and were going to take me to jail. My wife was hysterical. We were just visiting Australia on a work visa and they would surely kick us out. Just as the police were putting on the handcuffs, a man appeared and said the witnesses were lying. He had overheard them and they were playing a game of chicken. Who can run in front of the cars without getting hit. The police started to question the other witnesses and they broke down and told the truth. The next day I went to see the boy in the hospital and he was fine. I also went to he police station to get the name and address of the person who came forward because I didn’t really thank him for saving me. The police said that the address and name the man gave were invalid and this man was nowhere to be found. It was like he was an angel that came down to save me. He did save me, right at the last minute.

Almost Died

I was only 15 when I fought in the war in Germany. The Russians were attacking us and they were throwing hand grenades everywhere. I was watching our troops get killed all over the place. I was really scared and we took cover in a hole in the ground. I didn’t know what to do so I was going to make a run for it. Just as I was getting ready to run, my troop leader grabbed me and said, “If you run now, you will get killed”. He was right. We lost over 30% of our men and I would have surly been killed. If it weren’t for my leader grabbing me at the last minute, I wouldn’t have been here to tell this story.

Breast Cancer

I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and I’m only 43 years old. I was feeling overwhelmed and defeated when a friend gave me an 11:59 necklace. It gave we the strength to fight even though I know death is inevitable. Every little bit can help and this did for me.

Our Wedding

I have suffered from depression for a long time. I have been divorced for several years and have just met a new man. We are both in our late 60’s and feel very fortunate to have found someone again. We were recently married and both of us wore our 11:59 necklaces on our wedding day because it is a symbol to “never give up”. Even at our age (and at the last minute) we have found someone to share life with again. We never thought it would happen to us at this stage of our lives but it did.

The Lost Ring

I received my 11:59 necklace from a student on the last day of school. I had my own 11:59 experience that I want to share. After a long fight, my mother lost her battle with cancer. My mother had given me a special ring that belonged to her. I had been wearing the ring when I looked down and discovered that the stone was missing. I looked all over for the stone but never found it. I was about to give up looking when one day I was at school and I went to move my chair at my desk and I looked down and there on the floor was my stone, right by my chair. This was my miracle and my 11:59 experience.

Aunt's Divorce

My Aunt was suffering through a difficult divorce and I bought her an 11:59 necklace to give her strength and hope through this time. Every time she felt overwhelmed or sad she would touch her pendant and it would remind her to keep going and everything would be all right.

Kidney Transplant

My husband needed a kidney transplant and was waiting for a donor. This was our second marriage for both of us. My husband’s two daughters decided to get tested to see if they were possible donors. My husband’s daughters came back negative. Neither of the girls were a match. So my son, from my first marriage volunteered to get tested. It was a shot in the dark but my son wanted to try. Well, it turned out he was a perfect match. My husband now has my son’s kidney giving him his life back. Just when we were about to give up we found our match. That is our 11:59 story.

Seattle Airport

I was at the airport getting ready to board my flight. As I went into my purse to get my wallet with all my identification I realized it was missing. I couldn’t board my flight without the proper identification. I was in a panic because I needed to board that flight. I didn’t know what to do. Then my 11:59 arrived. I heard my name being called over the intercom. The flight attendant held the plane while I calmly reported to where I was told to go. I walked over to an elderly couple that was waiting for me. They had my wallet and all my identification.

I went back to the gate and was able to make my flight. I was with my mother for her last two hours before she passed away. If I had missed my flight I would have been 4 hours to late. This was my 11:59 experience.