seeing new life

A few weeks ago I was asked by a client to create a documentary about Heart Transplant patients. It is going to be a video about what goes through their minds and really focus on the emotional aspect of getting a transplant. It sounded exciting and I was happy to do it. The next day I was asked to visit a patient who was waiting on a Heart Transplant. I have met several people in my life that have had transplants, but never like this. So I brought my gear in and set up – introduced myself and talked with the family. It was a tough time because the person had been waiting a while for a transplant and they were not sure when a heart would become available. The interviewer asked the person questions about what they were going through, what they were feeling and what they would like to do after the transplant. As I stood there staring through the view finder, I began to really look at life in a very different way. The things this person wanted so badly, I took for granted. Taking walks with my wife, playing with my daughter- all the freedoms that I forget everyday. The interview lasted about 30 minutes and as I packed my gear, the person’s preacher came in to see him. It brightened everyone up having him in the room.
Several weeks went by and I wasn’t really sure what was going on with the patient. The client wanted to have interviews before and after the operation and I was just hoping that I was going to get a call to come back and film. I think since that moment that I had met the patient, I just started thinking about my own life more and my own health. Just this past week I got a message saying that the person got the transplant and that they were doing really good. I was so excited for this person!! It just brought joy to my heart to know that the patient was doing good.
I went back and filmed the person yesterday and they looked so much better. I told the family that I had been thinking of them and glad that everything is ok. I set the camera up again, this time more excited and more encouraged about the situation. As the person began to talk about the experience, the wait, the family’s experience, you could see life at it’s grandest right in front of me. This person was fighting to live. They wanted to live. The interview lasted about 40 minutes and it was a very emotional time. The person talked about the importance of being a donor. How even if you say you want to be a donor make sure your family knows. Everyone in the family needs to be in agreement to donate. They talked about wanting to live and being so grateful to the doctors and staff. The person just really shared their thoughts and it was a great thing to for me to hear.
I hope that this documentary will help people understand heart transplant patients and what goes all into the process. I am not sure of the distribution, but I think even with this one interview, it could be really influential to people and their families who need transplants. It was for me!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•