Roger was so agitated after writing his last post — Please Annoy The Pig — that he prematurely hit the ‘Publish’ button and within nanoseconds his advice was blasted to you by our ever-at-the-ready Feedblitz service!

So if you haven’t noticed it yet, Roger’s post is probably just a few items down in your in-box.

In that post, he’s writing about the most fundamental care you can take in how to treat your donors … if you really are serious about being donor-centric.

Within minutes of seeing Roger’s article, I received an email from a regular Agitator reader. His story is rather more dramatic than the ‘routine’ (or what should be routine) matter of thanking donors and respecting their preferences.

But I’ll jump right to paraphrasing his bottom line: Treat every donor like you’d want your Mom treated! [Or Mum to our former Commonwealth readers.]

Here’s the story …

“Last Saturday, my wife and I were driving from Dallas to Nashville (home). It was a beautiful day, and we stopped in Memphis for dinner at our favorite restaurant. After dinner, we enjoyed a beautiful late afternoon drive and listened to our favorite love songs. 

“Approximately 45 miles from Nashville, my wife groaned with chest pains, which we considered indigestion. Suddenly, her jaw and left shoulder were hurting. I turned on my emergency flashers and drove 100MPH to the hospital. Upon arrival at  an extremely busy ER, a nurse was walking through the parking lot and saw me running around our van to open the door for my wife. The nurse asked, “May I help you?” I said, “Heart attack”. Within five minutes, my wife was being monitored with an EKG.

 “As I type, this she is in process of having a quadruple bypass!

 “Although we’ve had many hospital experiences, this is the first time, we’ve experienced the A-Z process. We are in a for profit hospital. The COO has just come by and greeted our family, as well as the CMO, which is an awesome touch. The COO’s approach to culture is “Treat every patient like you would treat my Mom!” 

“However, our greatest moment occurred this AM when Gary walked into our room. He said, “Hi, my name is Gary. I’m not a doctor, nurse, or employee. I’m a volunteer and came to tell you I had triple bypass surgery 16 years ago. I’m 83 and want to assure you of what you will experience the next few days.”  My wife and I were flooded with peace. Gary is one of five bypass veterans who donate a day of their week to encourage and comfort cardiac patients.

“First, thank you for what you do! Secondly, please thank your entire team, make sure you create “Gary moments” and treat every patient like you want your Mom treated.”

We’re awaiting word on the surgery.

Tom