My Dad received a very, VERY special visitor on Saturday morning. Ute football head coach Kyle Whittingham's daughter Kylie is a close friend and soccer teammate of my cousin Lindsey and when my Aunt Julie told him about Dad's situation and what a loyal and dedicated Ute fan my dad has been over the years, Coach Whit took time out of his busy recruiting schedule to come by University Hospital on Saturday morning and visit with my Dad and talk Ute football with him. Dad's been a mid-level Crimson Club member forever but never in a million years would have thought he'd warrant a personal visit from the Coach. For me, it would be like having Bono come and visit me in the hospital :) A special thanks to Julie, Ron and Lindsey Osborn for loving my dad enough to find a way to make this happen, and a heartfelt thanks to Coach Kyle Whittingham for being so much more than just a great football coach, but an even better human being and friend.
I know it may sound cheesy to some of you, but the University of Utah is truly an important part of my dad and my entire family's lives. Dad graduated from the U's business school and enjoyed every minute of his time spent on campus and as a member of the Beta Theta Phi fraternity. My brothers and I grew up going to countless Ute football and basketball games with my Dad in our family's red VW bug. All of his kids attended the U and we all continue to attend as many games as we can with our own kids. I've worked here off an on over the years and when it became necessary to go back to work full time it was the only place for me. My co-workers have enjoyed having my dad drop in to visit me at my office on campus while he was on his way to or from one of the many doctor or clinical trial visits he's had over the past two years.
So when our family had to make the decision of where to have Dad have his lung transplant - UCLA who does 80-90 transplants a year, or the U's much smaller program that only did nine transplants last year - it wasn't even a question for us. We felt so lucky that the U was even able to get my dad on the list and that he wouldn't have to go through this and recover for months afterward so far away from home. The U's lung transplant team normally only accepts patients under 65 years old. They made the exception based on his amazingly good health and discipline and the support network they knew he had to help with his care after the transplant.
We are so incredibly grateful and impressed with the doctors, nurses and staff of University Hospital - and yes, even our head football coach! They are truly top notch and are so invested in all of their patients, not just my dad. Even little things like the free valet parking service the hospital provides, which seems like such a trivial thing, but to family members who are making daily trips to the hospital - often times stressed and in a hurry to get to their loved ones, it becomes anything but trivial.
I've worked in development (fundraising) in Salt Lake for over 15 years and I'm very familiar with and have even visited personally with many of the donors whose names are posted all around the hospital and on plaques next to many of the rooms my dad has stayed in over the past four weeks. I know how much these families have contributed to countless nonprofit organizations in our community, but I've never been more grateful to them than I am now. We are so blessed to have a research University with a hospital of this caliber so close to us and to have so many philanthropic families who have made it all possible. I've been a die-hard Ute fan all my life, but I've never been more proud to be one than I am now, and I know my parents and brothers feel the same way. Go Dad! Go Utes!
