THE BIKER WITH A BIG HEART
Reader's Digest US|April 2021
Her son’s organ donation saved his life. So he rode 1,426 miles to meet her.
A. C. Shilton From bicycling magazine
THE BIKER WITH A BIG HEART

IT TOOK SEVERAL drafts to get the letters right. To distill her boy’s life into the two-dimensionality of words on paper. To paint a picture of someone so full of energy and love so that the beneficiaries of his death, the recipients of his organs, would know just how lucky they were.

Three weeks earlier, the thread that held Christine Cheers’s world together had been ripped clean away. On February 21, 2018, someone on the other end of the phone had said the words that bring parents to their knees: “There’s been an accident.”

Her son, 32-year-old Navy flight surgeon James Mazzuchelli, had been injured in a helicopter training mission at Camp Pendleton. If she wanted to see him while he was still alive, she needed to get on the next flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Diego—and she needed to pray.

James was still breathing when Christine and his stepfather, David Cheers, arrived at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California, the next morning. Machines were keeping him alive, and the doctors told Christine that what she was seeing was likely his future—that her scuba diving, world-traveling, overachiever of a son was never going to wake up. He would never breathe on his own.

He would never smile at her again.

It was time for Christine to honor the spirit of a man who had switched his major from commerce engineering to premed because he wanted to help people. It was time to make her very worst day some stranger’s best one.

Denne historien er fra April 2021-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra April 2021-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA READER'S DIGEST USSe alt
Election Day Memories - Stories about voting by the people, for the people
Reader's Digest US

Election Day Memories - Stories about voting by the people, for the people

A Convincing Argument When my boyfriend and I were finally old enough to vote in our first presidential election, we spent months debating with one another about our chosen candidates. We were quite persuasive, as we discovered when we got home from the polls and learned that we'd both voted for the other's initial choice.―SHERRY FOX Appleton, WI

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2024
A New Way to Monitor Blood Sugar
Reader's Digest US

A New Way to Monitor Blood Sugar

Who can benefit from this wearable technology

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2024
A Flag for Dad
Reader's Digest US

A Flag for Dad

An old sailor made a last wish. His son was determined to see that it came true.

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2024
Sisterhood to Last a Lifetime
Reader's Digest US

Sisterhood to Last a Lifetime

These college pals teach a master class in how to maintain a friendship for 50-plus years

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2024
...TO DIE ON A HOCKEY RINK
Reader's Digest US

...TO DIE ON A HOCKEY RINK

ONE MINUTE I WAS PLAYING IN MY BEER LEAGUE, THE NEXT I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2024
Yes, There's a Museum for That!
Reader's Digest US

Yes, There's a Museum for That!

These collections are wacky, wonderful and worth a visit

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2024
Town Meeting Is Called!
Reader's Digest US

Town Meeting Is Called!

Once a year, the people of Elmore, Vermont, gather to practice a cherished right: democracy

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2024
Just Tight
Reader's Digest US

Just Tight

Broken, battered and trapped in a ravine for days, a desperate driver wonders, \"Will anyone find me?\"

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2024
WHY OUR BODIES DON'T DIG DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
Reader's Digest US

WHY OUR BODIES DON'T DIG DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Twice a year, when we spring ahead and fall back, we're more prone to sleepiness, depression and accidents

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2024
MONEYSAVING DO'S AND DON'TS
Reader's Digest US

MONEYSAVING DO'S AND DON'TS

The run-up to the holidays doesn't have to bah-humbug your budget. A shopping expert shares strategies for saving big now and all year round.

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2024