Richard Young

"I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1995 and underwent a year of treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation targeted at the pericardium around my heart. After recovering in about a year, I returned to work and decided to focus on getting healthy, which led to my passion for cycling. Over the next 10 years, I was riding an average of 4,000 to 6,000 miles a year.

One day, about 40 miles into a ride on a hot July day, I felt strange. After a big climb, my heart rate, which should have been high, was unusually low. I knew something was wrong. I stopped, got off the bike, lay down on the side of the road, and found myself unable to get back up. Though cars and even other cyclists passed, no one stopped to help.

Finally, a man drove by, turned around, and came back to assist me. He called an ambulance and contacted my wife. Within 20 to 30 minutes, the ambulance arrived, my wife joined me, and I was taken to the Hendersonville Hospital.

After EKGs and testing, they told me I had had a heart attack and that I needed a heart catheterization. At that point, I got transferred to St. Thomas Hospital West. I underwent a heart catheterization that day, and three days after my heart attack, I had open-heart surgery—a coronary artery bypass procedure. The surgeons discovered five blocked areas in my heart. The blockages were partially due to genetic high cholesterol and partially a result of the radiation from my cancer treatment. Understanding my desire to return to an active lifestyle, the heart surgeon decided to bypass all five areas to give me the best chance at resuming a normal life afterward.

And I did. I recovered. But during my recovery period, I tried many times to contact the man who came to my assistance on the side of the road, but I could not find him.

I remembered that we had gotten his name, though I won’t reveal it. I refer to him as G.A., which, to me, stands for Guardian Angel. I knew he worked for the fire department, and I tried and tried to find him. I placed ads in local papers, sharing my story and hoping to reach out, as I wanted to thank him for saving my life. Unfortunately, I was never successful.

Now, I'm a nurse anesthetist, and at that time was working at a surgery center in Gallatin. It had been about a year since the incident, when one of the nurses in the center called me and said she needed my help with an IV. When I entered the room and looked behind the curtain, there was G.A. lying on the bed.

I couldn't believe it. I was overwhelmed with emotion at that point. I had been searching for him for over a year. Anyway, I was obviously moved to see him and to be able to hug him and thank him for saving my life. After that emotional day, I contacted a news station, thinking they might want to cover the story. I told them I would need to check with G.A. first to ensure he was okay with it. The station wanted to film us, take photos, and share the story on their newscast.

However, G.A. declined. He said, ‘I don’t want to be on the news. I don’t want any recognition. I was just doing God’s work.’

G.A. truly left a lasting impression on me. Every now and then, I'll ride my bicycle down that same road of the incident. He does not live far from there. When I go by his house, I always shout and wave toward his house, hoping he'll hear me.

You never know when God might use you to impact someone else. I’ve seen it in my own life. I’ve found myself in situations where I said or did something for someone that seemed insignificant to me at the time, only to later learn it was really meaningful for them. A simple comment, a glance, or a small act can have a huge impact on someone. The truth is, God has a way of using us for His purposes.”

- Richard Young, from the Madison Campus Church, Tenn.