Dead for Seven Minutes with Robert and Steven Dominguez

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Prepare yourself for an emotionally charged episode as the co-hosts from the Bigfoot Club podcast, Robert Dominguez and his nephew, Steven Dominguez, step in for Father Stephen Sanchez.

Robert recounts his terrifying health ordeal — from severe weight loss to a critical diagnosis which led to surgery. We explore the emotional rollercoaster faced by Robert and his family during his recovery, culminating in a life-threatening situation where Robert's heart stopped for seven minutes. With Steven providing additional recollections, we delve into the confusion, distress, and eventual cautious optimism as Robert was revived. This segment is a raw and poignant journey through medical crises and the power of familial support.

As the episode progresses, we delve into Robert's battle with Guillain-Barre syndrome. The latter part of the conversation emphasizes resilience, recovery, and the spiritual awakening that followed Robert's harrowing experience. We touch on near-death experiences and the transformative power they hold, highlighting the importance of forgiveness and second chances. This heartfelt episode is a must-listen for anyone intrigued by the triumphs and trials of the human spirit, offering a profound look into personal transformation, recovery, and perseverance.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the my Friend the Friar podcast and
thanks for listening.
If you like my Friend the Friarand want to support us, please
consider subscribing orfollowing us if you haven't
already done so, and if youfound us on YouTube then, don't
forget to click the notificationbell when you subscribe, so
you'll be notified of newepisodes when they release.
Thanks again and God bless.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for joining me and myfriends Robert Dominguez and his
nephew, stephen Dominguez.
Hi guys, hey, hello.
Y'all are not Stephen.
You're not my Stephen, soyou're not Father Stephen.

Speaker 4 (00:42):
No.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
I was hoping, and Robert and I were.
We're really hoping for like aSteven battle Royale to the
death.
See, yeah, see who comes out ontop, kind of thing.

Speaker 4 (00:55):
Um, Steven, Steven, Steven with a V versus Steven
with a pH right, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yep, yep, see, it was fist to cuffs.
It was bound to happen.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
You don't.
You don't want to have my namewith a Ph on it, because I would
have a PhD.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Oh goodness.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
So, father Stephen, he had to go out to the castle,
which is what we call hismonastery out in Arkansas.
So he had to go to the castlethis weekend what we call his
monastery out in Arkansas.
So he had to go to the castlethis weekend.
Um, and he was cleaning, and,uh, he was cleaning around some
moldy window and he startedfeeling really bad.
I think he's turning into like aspore zombie and I hope

(01:35):
actually, I mean, I hope not,but I kind of hope so too, cause
it'd be kind of cool, um yeah,and I don't know, but anyway, so
he's not feeling well, so he'snot joining us tonight.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Oh, I hope.
Hopefully we'll hear from him.
Yeah, sure, hope he feelsbetter yeah, um cool.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
so, robert and steven , you guys well, steven,
actually it's like I've knownyou longer than you've known me,
because I listen to y'all'spodcast.
Yeah, but, robert, what did wesay earlier?
We've known each other likefour years, About four years
yeah, yeah, all right.

(02:16):
So our listeners who don't knowanything about you, tell us a
little bit about you.
Where are you from?
What are you interested in?
Tell us about your amazingpodcast, of course, so people
can check y'all out.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Right, Um, thanks for the for the platform.
Um, yeah, uh, my name is RobertDominguez.
I grew up in Oak Cliff, uh, andlike in the eighties, and
Steven that's here in.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
That's here in Dallas right, it's in Dallas.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah, it's in uh Dallas area.
It's a a they used to call it asuburb of dallas, but it's just
now part of dallas now.
So, uh, steven, my nephew, uh,he, you know, he grew up, you
know, I've been in his life, hiswhole, you know his whole life,
and so, um, we've always beentogether.
And uh, back when I was doinguh bigfoot stuff because I was

(03:02):
interested in bigfoot, in theparanormal, but mostly at this
time when he was little, I wasinto bigfoot and whenever we had
these meetings or we would goon these outings, I would take
him with me.
And uh, steven, how old wereyou at the time?

Speaker 2 (03:16):
you always, I know, but then the listeners don't
know.
I know, I know I don't.

Speaker 4 (03:20):
I'm gonna say six or seven years old, yeah so you
would go out, you would go outto the field with me or go to
meetings and stuff and you wouldhear all this stuff.
I wouldn't say that you were abig footer, cause like people
who do big foot stuff, we readthe kind of call them, they call
, they call them big footers.
Would you consider yourself abig footer?

Speaker 2 (03:40):
At the time or now?
No, at At that time or now?
No, at the time.
At the time, no, I was justalong for the ride.
Okay so Because, if I'm beingtotally honest, at that time I
was terrified going out thereand I'd rather not have gone,
but I was with you.
So I mean, you wanted to bewith me, I just wanted to be
with you at the time.
So I was Such love.

(04:01):
I was like well, I want tospend, this is what he loves, I
guess.
I guess I'll just spend timewith him, you know.

Speaker 4 (04:07):
So so at that time, john, we were you know, I would
I was a part of a Bigfoot groupcalled the Texas Bigfoot
Research Center, and this was inthe late nineties, early two
thousands, and it was formed bythis gentleman by the name of
Luke Gross, which is a mentor ofmine and he's a great man.
So at that time we had formedthis group, and so what we

(04:29):
wanted to do was help people inTexas and surrounding states who
had, like, an incident with, oreyewitness, a Bigfoot.
And I know some of yourlisteners say, bigfoot in Texas,
yeah, there's Bigfoot in EastTexas.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Lots of trees out there.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
Yeah, lots of trees.
There's lots of areas thatdoesn't have any houses or any
communities where thesepotential creatures can roam and
move freely without being seen.
So at the time I was with thisgroup, I left the group in 2003
cause I just didn't like itsdirection.
I then became a uh independentresearcher so I was doing stuff

(05:12):
on my own says like, wheneveryou're with a group, you you
kind of get tied into um rulesand regulations of what you
can't say to the press orwhatever.
And so, uh, I was, I was tonguetied, I couldn't say a lot of
things.
And so, as I became uh freefrom the group I was, I was able
to say what I want or how Ifelt about certain things.
And then that kind ofprogressed me into the

(05:34):
paranormal.
I was recruited by, uh, kendalllamb.
Um, did I say her name right?
No, can, kendall Rubio, I'msorry, yeah, kendall Rubio.
And so I was recruited by her.
She was looking for a seasonedresearcher, and so I became the
case director for ParanormalInvestigations of North Texas.

(05:58):
So I got a lot of casesparanormal-wise and I would
distribute them out, them out toother researchers that at times
I would go out and research aswell, so I've kind of been
interested in the paranormalencrypted.
So that was kind of the thearea way that I that I was kind
of going into and probably likein two, this was probably like

(06:20):
2005 and I did it all the wayinto probably like 2017.
And then I, from 2017 to 2019, II kind of took a break and from
doing anything.
So in 2019, I just had the ideaof doing a podcast and at the
time, you know, uh, steven was,he was, he was a parent and he

(06:42):
had very young boys and he wasmy number one draft pick to do
this podcast with, because,number one, he's been with me in
the woods, he knows all the keycomponents, all the key players
in the field, and so I likedhis perspective on stuff because
I would always show him apicture or a video of a Bigfoot

(07:03):
or the paranormal and I wouldalways ask him so what do you
think?
And he would give me his honestopinion and so, uh, so we ended
up, I ended up starting Bigfootclub.
I had to pick two differentco-hosts at the time.
Uh, we started off in Octoberof 2019 and it was, it was, uh,
it was rough going cause Ididn't know anything about
podcasting or editing audio oranything like that.

(07:25):
So it was tough going at firstand then I'm sure we'll probably
get into it Up until currenttime I think in 2021, it was
just me and Steven, and so sinceStephen and I have been doing

(07:54):
the show, the show has, you know, tripled in downloads and
participation and people youknow, emailing us and sending us
messages, and so it's, you know, at this time, you know we
don't do a lot of active stuffanymore.
We don't do stuff in the field,we don't research, we don't.
But if someone were to reachout to us, we would try to help
them.
Know, like the best of our camp, you know best that.
You know that that we can.
So at this time, right now, I Iwe don't really call us

(08:14):
ourselves podcasters anymore.
We call ourselves crypticsports entertainers, so, uh, so
we're kind of like the sportsillustrated for people who do
cryptid and paranormalinvestigations.
So we kind of critique them onsome of the stuff that they're
doing, because I've done a lotof stuff in the field and I've
seen a lot of stuff.
So that's where we're at rightnow.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, and you guys, I love you.
Lately, too, it seems like youguys get it.
You're a platform that allowspeople to share their stories,
right, and that's good.
And again, that's that's one ofthe beauties of podcasting is
because the more we talk, themore we share, the more
connected we are and the moreyou realize well, hey, that
weird thing that I experiencedis maybe not that weird because

(08:56):
somebody else experienced it.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
yeah and I, I think it it gives people the, the I,
the idea that they're not alone.
Because, like you know, most ofthe time that I would talk to
people, whether it wasparanormal or like uh, uh,
cryptic stuff or you know,bigfoot stuff, uh, some of the
people would go to their spousesor their uh, or their wives or
something, and they would talkabout it and they wouldn't feel

(09:19):
comfortable or they they werekind of reluctant to go talk to,
um, someone at at the, at thechurch, or maybe someone in law
enforcement, and so they areafraid of being ridiculed.
So this platform, you know,lets them know that, hey,
they're not alone, this stuffhappens, and so they're able to.

(09:40):
You know, if their people arewilling to come out and reach
out to us.
Uh, you know, we love to numberone, we love to hear the story,
but at the same time and I knowa lot of podcasters don't do
this, and Steven can back me onthis that whenever we do talk to
someone, we ask them how arethey doing?
That's really important to us,because some podcasters will
just get the story they'reexcited, all right, this is a

(10:02):
great story.
And story they're excited, allright, this is a great story and
then they'll just take off.
But we like to ask the questionlike off air how are you doing?
Do you need to talk?
And so some of the people we'veactually continued to talk to,
uh, and counsel and it's likesome of the people that, uh, one
of the guys we did and I thinkseason two, season three, he was
having like night terrorsconstantly and I, to this day, I

(10:23):
still talk to this guy and, uh,he doesn't want to, he doesn't
want to know, he doesn't wantanybody to know who he is.
But I still talk to him and Icounsel him and I explain to him
why he had his incident and itmade better sense to him after,
you know, after we've talkedlike six times and uh, so now
he's, he's living a bet.
I think he's living a betterlife now since he had this

(10:45):
incident that changed his life.
So, but we do ask that question, john, we ask people if they're
OK because, like a lot of times, these people who have these
incidents, they're not, they'renot looking for it, it just
happens and it changes theirlife and they they have nowhere
else to talk to or no one elseto, you know, to grieve upon.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
But anyway, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, and, and
that's good, and like, if I cansay anything.
So, uh, I don't know, y'all areway bigger than we are, but
we've.
The one of the beauties of theinternet, right Is, is our
little podcast has beendownloaded in 47 different
countries around the world.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
I don't even think we have that.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah, so it's like I mean, we've got listeners from
Europe, africa, asia, right,like literally everywhere.
So if anybody who's listeningto this, not just a you know
cause, cause there are, I guess,how you saw, like Bigfoottype
encounters around the world,right, there's a lot of
different places.

(11:48):
In Australia they've got aversion.
In Asia they've got a version,kind of thing, right, yes, South
.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
America.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
So there's these kind of experiences around the world
, yep, yep.
So, even excluding Bigfoot,like there's supernatural
experiences around the world.
And again, you guys are a greatplace for people to share their
stories and feel heard and allthat.
So, man, if anybody islistening, you got a story, you
got something.
Y'all's email is BigfootClub1.

(12:13):
Not typed out number one, butthen the number one.
So, BigfootClub1 at gmailcom.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah.
So anybody you got a story youwant to share, um, and shoot
these guys an email because it'salways good to.
It's better to to feel heardthan to feel crazy right, you
know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yeah, absolutely, because, like at that, at the
same time I've I've networkedwith a lot of people, different
people, because different peoplein different, uh, denominations
will have incidents and thatmakes it even.
You know, they're reluctant tocome out, but I've networked
with so many people, so if I'mnot able to help them, I can

(12:55):
find someone you know that'savailable to help them.
So, whether it's myself or youknow someone from the church or
someone from their backgroundthat they're more comfortable
with.
You know, we were able to dothat.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, that's great.
That's great, um, well, cool.
So let me, let me set the stagehere on why we've got you on
our show and I'd love to talkabout Bigfoot.
Maybe we will later, maybewe'll just do another episode
and just talk about stuff, right, um, but uh, so I've known you,
for what did we say about fouryears Four?

Speaker 2 (13:27):
years.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I guess a year or so after like time is really bad
in my brain, so it's hard forme to keep track.
But, a year or so, maybe a yearand a half or maybe two, I
don't know after I got to knowyou, because we used to work
together- you started havingsome digestive issues and I
remember you like you can onlyeat bananas and white bread or
something like that.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
Correct.
Yeah, yeah, that was go ahead,I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
No, no, no, no, no.
Um, I was just saying you wentto a doctor and they recommended
the surgery.
And this part I can't cause.
It all gets kind of blurry inmy head Right.
I don't remember if there waslike a concern for potential
cancer, or it was for surecancer or I don't know something
.
But they, you know what wasgoing on.
What was just that little part.

Speaker 4 (14:11):
So this happened like in December of 2020, and it led
over to January 2021.
I was, I was, I was not able tohold food down and I was losing
.
I think I lost like 30 poundsin like a month and a half,
right, steven, like a month anda half.
I wasn't, and like, whatever Iate, it would not stay down.

(14:32):
I would just, I would just loseit.
And so I I went to a doctor andI went to a gastrologist and
they did um, an endoscope and uh, what's it called when they
Colonoscopy?

Speaker 3 (14:47):
Colonoscopy yeah.
The other side yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (14:49):
So I got in from both ends and they found that I had
four huge polyps in my lowerintestine and they were pretty
big, and so they advised to havesurgery to have them taken out,
and so they advised to havesurgery to have them taken out.
So this was like in, I think,april or March, I had that

(15:11):
procedure done and so I wasgoing to be out for a month.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
because they said yeah, because I remember you
took some time off from work.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Right.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
And that's like I remember, and I don't know how
long you had been off yet, butyou just hadn't come back and so
but it was relatively soonafter you had left.
And so I just remember where weused to work.
I was at the receptionist areaand there's a couple of people
standing around and we all kindof worked together.
So I was just like hey, hasanyone heard?

(15:41):
You know how, Robert, howRobert's doing, and like I just
it didn't register in my brainwhat they said.
I and I still like, even now, Ijust can't believe what they
said.
They're like they're likerobert died and I was like what,
like whoa, what?

(16:01):
And then whoever it was and Ican't remember who it was
because there's a bunch of usall standing around but they,
you know, they explained youwere like resuscitated, but
you're in the hospital still andit's not good.
And after that, like it's justlike a blur, right.

Speaker 4 (16:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:16):
Some point in time I got a chance to talk to you.
I remember talking to you onthe phone and you were still
relearning how to talk.
Yeah, and like it was just wild, so okay, so take me back after
or in in, steven too.
Steven's going to help fill inthe blanks, cause, cause, Robert
, you got some blanks right.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
So like you had the surgery or you're getting ready
for surgery, like just start usoff there, and like so, yeah, so
they, they removed like sixinches of my large intestine
cause that's where these bulbswere at, and so they had to
reattach it, and so they told meit would take a month to
recover and, to be honest withyou, I recovered really, really
fast you did.
Like within three days.
I was walking, I was walking.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
Oh, I think I remember that too.
Yeah, I was walking, yeahbecause it was interesting how
quickly you recovered, but thenlike you disappeared again or
something.

Speaker 4 (17:05):
Yeah, so, like I recovered really fast.
So my FMLA was for a month, soI was going to write off a month
, take some time off, relax, andthat that was the plan.
So I was going to come back.
I think it was, um, I want tosay it was probably like in may.

(17:25):
I was going to come back may,yeah, um, something somewhere
around there.
So I was going to come back inmay and so it was the end of May
, uh, leading into the nextmonth, and so, um, so I was able
, I was, I was doing well, andas one morning I woke up and I
remember calling you right,steven, yeah, I called you and I

(17:45):
went to bed.
This was on a Sunday night, itwas Monday morning.
I woke up and I couldn't feelmy hands or my feet and I called
you and I said I can't feel myhands or my feet.
I don't know why they're likeasleep and I can't wake them up.
And what did you?
Do you recall this conversation?

Speaker 2 (18:02):
I did, I was just, I remember I was okay, like I go.
Is it?
Is it because you causeremember you were going?
You were going through someanxiety, too right, you were
going through like some extremeanxiety that's right you get
anxiety, you like it's, likeit's bad.
yeah, and I remember you went toyour your doctor and he gave

(18:23):
you some, uh, some newmedication to anxiety start
anxiety.
And I think it was I think itwas new because you said like I
don't like this other medicationbecause something I can't
remember what was the sideeffect on it.
But he had you try somethingnew and I was just like, okay,
your feet it just feels likeit's constantly asleep.
And you're like, yeah, and Iwas like I don't know man, like

(18:46):
maybe it's a new medication thatyour doctor gave you.
I'm not too sure.

Speaker 4 (18:59):
So you should probably call your doctor.
And you were like, okay, I'lldo that.
I think he did, I'm not sure.
So he told me, he told me todrop, quit taking it.
So then, like within a coupleof days, john, I was uh, I was
having a hard time walking LikeI would.
I would get up and I would gotake a shower.
And then I struggled to get outof the shower for some reason,
like I felt really weak and Iand I just couldn't stand, so I
had to lean against the wall, Ihad to constantly lean against
the wall and I just kept fallingand I think, um, I called my

(19:21):
brother and I said, hey, there'ssomething wrong, I need to go
to the ER.
I can't, I can't stand up.
And he goes.
Okay, this was like four o'clockand three o'clock in the
morning, and so he came andpicked me up and I was walking,
I was, I was, I was okay at thistime.
I was walking out, I got mystuff, I locked the door, I was
walking out and I fell downbecause our, our sidewalk was

(19:42):
kind of, uh, uphill, and I felldown and he was able to come out
and he goes what's wrong withyou?
I said I don't know and he saidhe picked me up and took me to
the hospital and at that time Igot, I got submitted, I got
submitted to baylor and took meto the hospital and at that time
I got submitted to Baylor andI'll try to speed this up a
little bit.
I got there.
They couldn't figure out whatwas wrong with me.
There was a neurologist thereand every day, john, I was not

(20:04):
able to.
My legs were getting weaker andweaker and this was, I think I
got admitted by.
I think it was May the 25th andthat was on a Tuesday.
I think I got admitted by.
I think it was May the 25th andthat was on a Tuesday, I think.
And then by Saturday I couldn'teat and I couldn't taste food

(20:26):
and that day, I think, I coded.
I think it was at night.
Was it at night?

Speaker 2 (20:32):
Steven, when you coded it was around 5.
5 o'clock in the afternoon.
If I remember correctly, it wasprobably like 4 or 5.

Speaker 4 (20:42):
So I was in the hospital, john, and at this time
this numbing sensation wascoming up.
It was coming up my legs, itmade it to my stomach, made it
to my chest, so apparently, thisnumbness stopped my heart.
It was stopping all my, all mymuscles.
I couldn't stand, I couldn't doanything and I, I, the last
four hours before I, I, I coded,and luckily I was in the

(21:07):
hospital and I was blessed to bein the hospital when it
happened, I, I wasn't, Icouldn't remember anything.
So I do recall, whenever I didwake up, uh, my, my older
brother was with me and he wasshowing me a video of a doctor
talking to me, and I don't, Idon't remember the video.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yeah, I talked to you that day too.
It was earlier in the day andSteve was there and he called me
and he said, hey, uh, I'm herewith Robert.
And I was like, hey, let me,let me talk to him.
And I remember you were, justyou were, you were breathing
hard.
I was like, hey, how are youfeeling?
You go?
Uh, um, I don't know, like youwere like struggling struggling

(21:48):
to like you wanted to say wordsbut you just couldn't.
And I was like are you feelingbad?
And he's.
You were like a little like,and I was like I go, okay, so
did you eat something?
No, it was all one wordedresponse.
Okay, I was like all right,well, I go, are you too tired to
talk?
You're like, yeah, I go, okay,I'll let me talk to Steve.

(22:12):
And I was like I go, I go.
That's weird.
He goes, yeah, he's, he's.
When I'm trying to talk to him,he's like not, he's not.
It feels like he's not there.

Speaker 4 (22:21):
Yeah, cause I think at that time I told the nurse
that I couldn't breathe and soshe came in and like she gave me
like major attitude and she,she just put on a oxygen mask,
she goes breathe in, and shewalked out and I was having a
hard time breathing and so Ithink eventually, you know,
she's a key player, though,right.

(22:41):
Yeah, she's a very key player inthis so at this time I think it
had reached my heart and Ithink Uncle Steve was with me,
he left, and then Uncle Raymondcame, came in and then I coded.
So yeah, at this time, uh, fromwhat I don't remember at this

(23:01):
point what happened.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
So, steve, steve called me and he was like hey,
did you get a call from raymond?
I said no, why?
Because he just called me rightnow and I I think something's
wrong.
I am not.
At that time I was like no, Ididn't want to accept it.
I was like it's probably amiscommunication, he goes.
Well, I'm turning around rightnow, I go.

(23:23):
Okay, I have Raymond's number,let me call him.
And I called Raymond and I canhear a lot of commotion in the
background.
I can hear a lot of commotionin the background and he goes
hello.
I was like Raymond, it's Steven,he goes.
Yeah, I was just like what'sgoing on?
Uncle Steve said you called himand he's going back, what's

(23:43):
going on?
And he's all like he's gone.
I was like what do you mean?
He's gone?
Like what is that?
I was like.
So I was getting like the rageand, yeah, you know, getting all
that, those emotions back of,like I go, what do you mean?
He's gone.
I just talked to him.
He goes, he's gone.
His heart stopped, he's notbreathing and I was like what,

(24:09):
what do they do?
What's what's going on in thebackground?
Like I just didn't want toaccept it because they're
working on him right now.
Uh, they're, they're, you know,they're trying to bring him
back.
And I was like I was likeraymond, like I don't understand
, like what's what's?
He goes, he goes, I gotta letyou go and he let him.
And I was like I was alreadythinking the worst.
I was like, okay, all right,and I called.

(24:30):
I remember I called blair, mywife.
I was like okay, all right, andI called.
I remember I called Blair, mywife, and I and I broke down and
I was like I got Robert,robert's gone.
And she was like wait what?
And I was like Robert's gone,like Raymond called me right now
and they said that he just heflatlined and he's just like
okay.
I was like I don't know what todo.
I, the boys, are here, I'mwatching the boys, you're at

(24:51):
work.
I don't know what to do.
And that was whenever I'll speedthis up Like she called her dad
and he was, and whenever theywere still living here, my
father-in-law and he was like hegot there in like 10 minutes,
literally 10 minutes and he waslike, hey, uh, I'm going to take
you to the hospital and butduring that 10 minutes, while I
was waiting on him, I was like Ialready thought the worst, I

(25:14):
already I thought I lost youalready.
I was like it's been minutes.
There's no way.
And then I called him and heanswered real quick, he goes,
he's back.
And I was just like wait what?
And I was like looking at thetime, I was like this it feels
like it's been like an hour.
You know how long was it?

(25:37):
Does anyone know about how longyou were?
Technically, to me it was likeprobably 10 minutes, it was
probably really 10 minutes.
But I was like, okay, he's back, I go, what's going on?
He goes well.
His heart stopped for sevenminutes and I was all like, okay
, so what are they doing?
Now?
He goes well.
They said that it's anythingpast three minutes.
Is it's like really it's bad,it's brain damage.

(25:59):
And I was like, I was like okay, and he goes, they're going to
test them to see if, like, ifhis brain is anything different
or something like that.
And I was like, okay,father-in-law's gonna drive me
off and uh, yeah.
So my father came and you know,at this point the boys saw,

(26:19):
like me and like almost in awreck, and yeah, they they kind
of knew and picked up and theywere like, what's wrong with
uncle robert?
I said, uh, he's in thehospital right now.
Uh, he's, he's sick.
I didn't want to tell them right, but I think they think they
knew.
But I was just saying he's sickand I'm just going to go to the
hospital and I'm going to checkup on him.
And yeah, you know, put on mybrave face, which I shouldn't

(26:41):
have.
I should have just let themknow what was going on.
They were there at that time.
They're really smart, theystill are.
But yeah, they stopped.
Yeah, but yeah, yeah, I went tothe hospital and I do you.
When they brought you back, Idon't think you were still out
yeah, they.

Speaker 4 (26:59):
They had put a ventilator on me and yeah um and
they yeah go ahead.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
So I remember getting to the hospital and uh yeah,
did you see me at all?

Speaker 4 (27:12):
yeah you saw me, yep, I was sedated.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
You were sedated.
Uh, you were out and uh I wasthere.
I forgot who was.
Who else was there?
I think steve.
Steve was already there too,raymond um, I think at the time
grandma was on her way.
I could, I couldn't reallyremember, but I remember going
to the hospital and I was justlike I was looking at my phone

(27:38):
because I kept thinking thatraymond was gonna call back and
say you're gone again, like Ididn't know how, like this was
serious, yeah, so, um, yeah, Ijust remember going to where
raymond was at and raymond gaveme a hug and he looked like he
was, like he was crying and hewas just saying he's back.

Speaker 4 (27:55):
This is my, uh, my older brother.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
Yes, yes, this is my other uncle Uh so when you, when
you coded out was it, was itonly one time?
Yes, Okay, so then so then Iguess immediately after is like
I guess I don't know how else tosay it Recovery kind of stuff
began like I guess I don't knowhow to say it recovery kind of

(28:17):
stuff began.

Speaker 4 (28:17):
Yeah, my, my older brother told me that the late,
the same lady that gave meattitude that she the key player
, the key player, she, he saidthat she came in with her
superwoman's, uh, with hersupergirls.
Cape on yeah and she starteddoing cpr on me and it was three
ladies and they were all takingturns until until they brought
me back, and so it was threeladies that did CPR on me for

(28:38):
seven minutes without stopping.
Dang.
And so I gotta go.
I still gotta go back to thehospital and thank them.
I have their names.
I still gotta go find them.
But, um, but that's what hetold me, cause, like, from that
point on, I think that was on aSaturday night, right, think
that was on a Saturday night,right, that was on a Saturday
night, right yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:56):
Because Blair was working and she didn't get off
till, I think, six.
So this happened like aroundlike whenever she was working, I
was like I can't, I have to go.
Um, and I, yeah, I had the.
This is whenever we had twocars.
So I was just thinking I waslike I'm gonna take the boys
whenever we had two cars.
So I was just thinking I waslike I'm gonna take the boys,
but she was scared of how Itunnel vision I was and she

(29:17):
didn't want me driving right?
So I think another key playerthere was my father-in-law got
there in like 10 minutes and waslike I'm gonna drive you and
then I'm gonna take the boys,we're gonna take the boys to
spend, spend the night with usand you just need to take the
time that you need.
I was like, please, thank you.
I didn't ask for it, but thankyou, right.
But yeah, no, I was just happyto be there at the hospital and

(29:38):
yeah, it was just that those twodays I felt like I think it was
, or the next day, yeah, becausewe figured it out on Sunday,
sunday or Monday, can't rememberit was all.
Now it's all a blur, so yeah,so yeah, so what?

Speaker 3 (29:50):
yeah so, so what was it technically that caused your
heart to stop beating?
So what's the name of the thing?

Speaker 4 (29:56):
Here's the thing it's called.
It's called Guillain-Barresyndrome and it's it's a
bacteria that gets in yoursystem and it turns your immune
system I mean your, your immunesystem against your nervous
system.
So it thinks it thinks it's a,it's a disease and it just
attacked it.
So what I was suffering from isthat my immune system was

(30:17):
attacking all my muscles, all mynerves from my muscles.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
And it always starts from the feet and it works its
way up.
Yeah, right, so yeah, that wasanother key thing that I'm so
glad that I remembered.

Speaker 4 (30:31):
Yes, and I called you and told you.
So let me just retract it.
Let me just go back a littlebit on this.
John, is that like when I wasgoing through the, the, the
colorectomy before I got sick?
I was a nurse uh, her name isshay and I became friends with
her while I was going through my, uh, recovery from my
colorectomy before I got sick,and so we became instant friends

(30:55):
.
We traded numbers, she was fromWest Dallas, I was from Oak
Cliff, so we kind of clicked.
And so while I was in thehospital and they couldn't, the
doctors couldn't figure out whatwas wrong with me, and so she
was discharging somebody.
When my two brothers and and mymom were coming in, I think
that weekend, and they alreadymet her too there, they had

(31:18):
already met her, yeah, and sothey were crossing paths at the
entrance and they, she says,what are y'all doing here?
And she goes, robert's here.
And she goes, so what for it?
Goes because, uh, he, his youknow his body got numb and he
coded.
And she goes I'm gonnadischarge this guy and I'm going
to go up and talk to y'all.
And so she went up and I'll letyou tell the story for me,

(31:39):
because I wasn't there.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
So before that happened, we were all this was.
I think this was Sunday.
I want to say this was Sundayor Monday the next day.
Um, joe, your cousin Joe wasthere.
Joe, your cousin Joe was there.
Big Joe was there.
Mary was there.
Grandma, I think Christopherand Carol and Albert already

(32:01):
left these are my cousins.
Yes, all family members andRaymond and Steve and Richard,
and I remember when Richard gotthere he was so angry you could
tell in his face how pissed offhe was that the doctors couldn't
figure out what was wrong,cause he was.
He'd asked him once.
He asked that, um, that doctorwith the, the, the Harley

(32:23):
Davidson, harley Davidson, uh,cap, cap on on his head, he goes
what is wrong with my brother,like, what is wrong with Robert,
and they're like, well, we'restill trying to figure that out.
Uh, there's some type of, youknow, paralysis or something
that that it just he goes.
And he just sat and sat downand he was like I think he
needed to step away because hedidn't like the answer.
So we're just all trying tofigure out and that's whenever,

(32:47):
um Shay came in and she, shegave everybody a hug.
She gave me a hug and she goeshow are you doing?
And I was like I'm not good,you know, I'm trying to figure
out what Robert.
And so she was just like likegetting ideas, like so, tell me
what's going on.
And we're like just telling herwhat was going on.
She goes, okay, um.
So like what, what was hefeeling numb at?

(33:11):
And I go, I go, um, robert wasfeeling, I remember he called me
and Robert said that hecouldn't feel his feet and then,
like I think the next day itwas like it was his hands she
goes, it started at his feet andI was like, yes, it sounds like
Guillain-Barre, guillain-barresyndrome.
And I was like what, what isthat?

(33:32):
And then Joe was next to me,our cousin.
he was like, oh yeah, the DallasCowboy player had, he had it,
he had it like six or sevenyears ago he had it and then,
yeah, they caught his early,they caught his early, he didn't
code or anything like that, butthey were able to catch it

(33:54):
early.
She goes.
You need to tell his doctor orwhoever's in charge here to to
test for that, because they donot test for that, that you have
to specifically ask for aspinal tap for them to test it
and we're like, okay.
So that guy came in with the,the harley davidson cap on and
he was all like, um, yeah, soyeah, so, yeah, you know it

(34:15):
started with his hands and stuff.
And I was like, no, it startedwith his feet.
He goes well on the clipboard.
Whenever he came in and saidthat, that it started with his
hands, I go, I go, that waswhenever I think you were, you
were out of it.
So am I.
Can 100, 100 tell you that Icalled him before all this went

(34:38):
bad, that it started with his.
It started with his feet.
He couldn't feel his feet andthen it worked his way up and
then it said it was like I thinkthe last time I talked to him
on the phone before he came tothe hospital said that he
couldn't feel his hands now andhe, like, he looked at the, like
the ground, likeating, like,looking, he goes, I'll be right
back.
And then he brought in anotherdoctor and the doctor is all

(35:00):
like, okay, so let me get someclarification here, because I
think there's some some, somesome type of misunderstanding
here.
Did it start with his feet ordid it start with his hands?
I go, it started with his feet,I go.
And then, before he uh, beforehe, I guess, guess, went to the
hospital, he called me and saidthat he couldn't feel his hands.
He goes, okay, he goes.
Well, we don't know.
That does sound like it's asymptom from Guillain-Barre, but

(35:23):
if you're permitted, like wepermission, we can do a spinal
tap.
And we're like, yes, like wewant to figure out what's going
on.
So they did the spinal tap andI saw that I was not pleasant I,
I woke, actually I woke up.

Speaker 4 (35:37):
So let me, let me just, let me just let me just
say this, john, that that this,this lady shay, she was not a
nurse, she was a, she was anurse's aide.
So I was, I was extremelyblessed to have to meet, to meet
this lady, because without her,I don't think I would be here
right now, without her at all.
So I think, God.

(35:58):
I think God put her in the pathto be so I could be friends with
her, so she could save me,because I told her afterwards
that she saved me and she.
But I'll just say this that Ido recall them turning me over.
I woke up just for like maybe acouple minutes and then the
needle went into my back and Ipassed out.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yeah, I saw that and I was not.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
So they end up.
They pulled fluid from myspinal cord and they tested it
and they showed that my immunesystem was on full red alert and
it was like attacking.
So they never said it was right, it was.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
Guillain-Barre.
That's another thing too, thatpissed off Richard.
He goes, is it Guillain-Barre?
Yes or no, he goes.
Y'all have tests here to saythat right, and they're like
yeah, and he goes.
Well, why aren't you tellingthem that it's Guillain-Barre?
Richard was like a madman thattime.
I never, never seen that sideof him before nice.

Speaker 4 (36:57):
So at this point they figured it was guillain-barre
yep, john.
And so they ended up giving methis, this dosage.
It was like five days worth it.
It was like a, it was like a iv.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
I forget what was it called man I wish hemoglobin,
hemoglobin um like a treatment.

Speaker 4 (37:14):
Yeah yeah, so they, at this time, I don't, I don't,
I wasn't, I was not awake, right?

Speaker 2 (37:20):
you, you know okay, so you were awake.
So whenever I got there, uh,saturday, okay, you woke up.
I don't know if you rememberthat you woke up and uh, you,
that's whenever you were tryingto say hey, I'm sorry'm sorry.
Right, because you knew how badit was.
You woke up, you saw theventilator on you.

Speaker 4 (37:37):
So I would just say this, john, is that I woke up
and my hands were tied and I hada ventilator so I couldn't talk
.
And so when I looked at Steve,I knew I was in a different room
.
And I looked at Steven and thelook of concern on his face was
overwhelming and I was trying totell him I'm sorry for putting
him through that and he wastelling me he's telling me, stop
trying to talk, stop trying totalk.

(37:58):
Yeah, and I was like because,like I think that night I had
woken up, john, and in themiddle of the night I woke up
and, uh, my, my childhood friend, juan, was there and he hates
hospitals.
He was there spending a nightwith me.
And so I woke up and I don'tthink I've ever told you a story
, but I was.
I was, it was in a loop, like Icould.
I was right by the nurse'sstation and I could hear what

(38:19):
they were talking about, whatthey were doing for the weekend,
and I would wake up and I wouldfall back asleep, and then I
would wake up again and I wouldhear the same conversation, the
same conversation, and then Ihad a nurse's aide come in and
says hey, conversation.
And then I had a nurse's aidecome in and says, hey, I'm so,

(38:39):
and so I'm gonna be taking careof you.
I'm not good at charades, Iknow you got a ventilator on and
then I fall asleep and I'd wakeup in the same conversation,
and so I thought that was reallyreally weird.
So, yeah, but anyway.
But from this point on I I wasgiven this dosage of this
hemoglobin, and it was five daysworth, and so at the time I
could barely move, and as soonas they were done with it, I was
able to move my upper arms.
I was able to move them thefirst day.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
That was whenever you were able to move your hands
and move your arms and Iremember I was like this, is it
this, this?
Because that bothered me thewhole, the whole time.
That was the same.
That was the same night before.
This is another little key inof what I was saying on the
dreams part.
That was whenever grandpa cameto my dream and said
everything's gonna be all right,right.

Speaker 4 (39:23):
So he's like he's like he knew that we're gonna
figure out the next day.
So, because I don't want todwell too much on all this stuff
right now, but yeah, um, I'llsay this, john is that you know?
I was able, I was able to moveand I had to go through therapy.
So this happened in May the29th and I guess I woke up on

(39:45):
June the 1st and they wereafraid that I didn't have any
brain function or I wasn'tthinking cognitively yet.
So I asked to write.
I said give me something towrite.
So I was writing.
I said what's today's date?
And they said it's June the 1st.
I go, I got to pay rent, you'reso responsible.

(40:07):
And so my brother said he goes,it's okay, we'll, we'll take
care of that, we're gonna takecare of it.
So, uh, at this point, uh, Iwas they.
I think it was eight days later, they pulled out the ventilator
.
I was able to talk and I was, Iwas, I was, I wanted like to
eat, so and they ended up givingme crackers and I think Sierra

(40:30):
Mist, Sierra Mist, yeah, yeah.
I wanted the Sierra Mist so bad,but anyway.
So from May the 29th, I wouldsay, they moved me to another
floor in which I started doingrehab.
And I would just say thisBaylor is probably the best
facility for rehab.
I would just say that Baylor isprobably the best facility for
rehab.
I'll just say that they were.
They were really good to me.
And so from May 29th, I thinkit was like from, uh, june, uh,

(40:52):
I was, I was there until, Ithink, june the 15th and I did a
bunch of rehab and so I wasbarely able to move.
And and then, I think, fromthere they moved me to another
facility in Grand Prairie.

Speaker 3 (41:05):
Yeah, I remember when they.
I remember they moved you, so Imust've talked to you sometime
during that window.

Speaker 4 (41:11):
So I think from that time I had enough strength to
hold my phone then, becausebefore that I could not hold my
phone, I could not hold like aspoon or a fork.
I struggled because they, theywanted me, they didn't want
anybody to feed me, they wantedme to do it on my own.
And so I struggled doing that,I struggled holding the phone,
and so I think, once I reachedout to you, I was able to dial a

(41:33):
number, put the phone on my, onmy, on my stomach, and then
talk to you on speaker.
So so, uh, but at this time Ithink, uh, I, I, I moved to
another facility and, and uh,grand Prairie, which is probably
one of the worst facilities,but I think, at the same time, I
needed it.
I needed worse than the best.

(41:53):
In a way, it was the worst andthe best because I needed this.
I needed this too, cause atthis time, right now, john, I
will say this I was brokenspiritually, I was broken
mentally, I was brokenphysically, I was broken
mentally, I was brokenphysically and I was, and I
prided myself on not breakingdown and crying in front of
Steven, because you know Iraised him and you know we had

(42:18):
so many people in our life dieand had to be the rock for him.
And I, I and I broke down infront of him and I, and it
killed me to do that.
It killed me to do that because, you know, I've always, I've
always been available for him.
So I couldn't hold it.
I couldn't, cause he would tellme what's wrong, what's wrong,
and I and I would, I would breakdown, cause I told him, I said
I go, I can't, I can't do this,this is too hard, it's too hard.
And he would tell me cause no,you can do it, you can do it, I

(42:50):
believe in you, I believe in you.
And so this place I was at, itwas really bad.
But at the same time I decided,okay, I'm going to cry this out
, I'm going to, I'm going tobreak down a couple of times and
then I'm going to be done withit, and then I'm going to, I'm
going to bust my butt from hereon out.
So, from there on out, I thinkI was there until, I think,
august, august, the 15th, Ithink, or something.
Then I went home, I moved to mybrother's house.

Speaker 2 (43:08):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (43:08):
And he was taking care of me.
At this time, I still couldn'twalk, I was in a wheelchair, and
so my sister-in-law and mybrother were great.
They did great things for me.
I was blessed to have them, andthey motivated the crap out of
me.

Speaker 3 (43:27):
And your love for Steven must have motivated you
too, because I remember talkingto you one time and it may have
been a fake, it till you make itkind of mentality, but you're
like, no, I'm going to beat thisso much faster than everyone
thinks that it's possible.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
You know what?
Because I told, I told thedoctors at a big where I said I
said what's the record for forbeating this?
And they said they go, cause wethink two years, I go, I'm
going to beat it, I go, I'mgoing to beat it.
And they said okay, I saidyou're going to come back here
and and walk and show us?
I said absolutely, I'm gonna doit.

(44:04):
And so I, there were some days Iwas real confident.
There's some days I just, I,mentally, spiritually, john, I
just broke down.
Yeah, because I, I, you know mymom, my mom, was so angry at
baylor.
She was so angry and she wanted, she wanted to sue them too.
Yeah, she wanted to sue themtoo.
And I and I told her, I saidthem too, yeah, she wanted to
sue them too.
And I and I told her, I said Itold my mom, I said mom, I don't

(44:32):
want to start this recovery ona negative note.
I just really don't.
I go, I don't care how I got it, I, I care where I'm going, the
outcome of the outcome of it,that's what I want, because it
was a baylor, a baylor employee,that brought you back.

Speaker 2 (44:40):
Right.
They could have easily justsaid he's gone.

Speaker 4 (44:42):
Yeah, no, seven minutes of doing the resuscitate
, yeah Like so I, I, I, you knowthey would tell me this
physical therapy.
People would tell me don't worktoo hard Cause, like Guillaume
Bray, it, it, it takes away yourstrength, like put it on your
socks.
That would tire me out for thewhole morning.
I couldn't do it.
But they would tell me, becausedon't exercise too much, you're

(45:05):
going to wear yourself out.
And I was thinking to myself.
I said you shouldn't tell methat, because I'm going to do it
more.
Now I'm going to do it more.
And so the physical therapistand Grand Prairie would come to
me and go hey, you ready toexercise?
I go, yeah, she goes.
Well, get up and come do it.
So I had to.
I had to get a board and put iton the bed and put it on the

(45:25):
wheelchair and slide myself overto it and and roll myself with
it.
You know, even though Icouldn't feel my hands, I would
roll myself over there and Iwould do these exercises.
And if she told me to do 30, Idid 40.
If she told me to do 50, I did70.
And she goes you're doing ittoo hard.
I said I'm gonna and I would goback.
I'm gonna, and I would go backto my room and I would exercise

(45:46):
more and even when I got tired,john, I would tell steven when
he'd come see me I'd be layingin bed.
I said, move my legs.
So he'd grab my knee and grabmy ankle and just like, move my
arms.
I mean, I mean, move my legs upand down until I was waking up
the body.
Yeah, I was just, I was justconstantly doing it and I and I
remember at this point, when Iwas at at at my brother's house,

(46:08):
I would call you more free,more, more frequently and I'd
ask you, hey, what's going on?
And hey, you know stuff likethat.
And I would.
I would call Caitlin too andsay, hey, what do you need?
You need, you need me?
I go, do you need to talk to meabout something, or you need to

(46:29):
find something?
I can help you work through it.
And so she would call me everynow and then and ask me about
work and stuff.
But anyway, but I'll just saythis I I would not wish this
upon my worst enemy, becausethis, this thing is the, the
hardest thing and I mean thiswith all my heart, this is the
hardest thing I have ever donein my life is to, yeah, is to
wakingaken up, to wake up yourbody, wake up your, your, your
spiritual strength and yourmental strength, because I mean,

(46:52):
you know, to have all three ofthem down, that's probably the
worst thing in the world.
And I, you know, I never, never,never, I never thought about
suicide, never thought about it,but I thought about giving up
and not walking again.
And I, after a while, I justnever, I never thought about
suicide, never thought about it,but I thought about giving up
and not walking again.
And I, after a while, I just Icouldn't, I couldn't do it, I
couldn't fathom that.
I said no, I mean, cause mylike I was saying before and I'm

(47:15):
sorry I'm rambling a little bit, but my mom wanted to like like
I said she wanted to sue Baylor.
And I told my mom, I said I go,what if God did this to me to
pull me off the street because Iwas going to be in an accident
or I was going to get robbed orshot or something?
What if this is God's way ofsaying he's humbling me and he's

(47:46):
taking me off the street andhe's doing this to me so I can
learn to be stronger mentally,spiritually, physically?
What if that?
And she looked at me and shegoes, okay, she goes, I won't
try to sue them, I'll let it go,man.

Speaker 3 (47:58):
You know.
To that thought my brother Paul.
He just sent me a song thismorning and I just had to look
it up in my text messages.
I can't remember who it's by.
It looks like maybe the singeris Jerry Raspberry, I guess I
just want to give credit.

(48:18):
But the name of the song is GodRedeems All he Allows, and
that's exactly what I'm thinkingas you're saying this God.
He allowed this to happen to meand he's going to work it for
his good and for your good.

Speaker 4 (48:37):
And you know what, john, I was not angry.
I was not angry at God.
I didn't say hey, know, hey,why have you forsaken me?
I never thought that I was.
I was just like you know.
I was just thinking, you know,I just I can't do this.
This is too hard.
This is too hard for me, evenfor you know.
I would like you know.
If you're going to do this tome, great, I'm just going to

(48:59):
accept it and go.
And then I realized I said youknow what this is?
This is I could be a testament.
I could be a testament forsomeone else yeah, you know well
.

Speaker 3 (49:09):
So how long?
How long did the recovery takebefore you came back to work and
all that?

Speaker 4 (49:13):
so I I made roughly I made it back to to my brothers
on august the 15th I was, I waswalking.
So this, this really happenedon May the 25th and then I was
in the hospital.
I made it back to my brothersin August.
By September I was on a walker,October I was in a cane and by

(49:40):
November I was driving and so Imade it back to work, I think on
December 15th, Yep.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
I was like why are you doing this?
I know I remember you showingup too.

Speaker 3 (49:51):
And I was like, because even then you weren't
quick.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (49:56):
No, I was shuffling.
Yep, I was shuffling around andI'll be honest with you I've
told Steven this, he's gottenreally angry with me.
When I went back to work Icouldn't feel, from my knee down
on both legs, on both legs, Icouldn't feel it.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
And.

Speaker 4 (50:16):
I couldn't tell when.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
I was hitting the gas or hitting the brake.

Speaker 4 (50:19):
Let's not do that again.
But yeah, I was determined.
I was determined because thehospital wanted me to go on
disability forever.
Yeah, and I told them no, Ican't do that, I can't do that,
that's not me, I can't do that.
Sorry, that's what you want meto do.
Because they said we don'tthink you should drive, we think

(50:40):
you should get a DART pass andwe can help you get, you know,
the disability hell.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
They told you that.
Yeah, hell, no.
I said you now want to get on adart?
No, no, no.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
I said no I'm good, I I'm, I'm, I'm gonna get past
this and I I remember tellingeverybody I said I'm gonna make
it back, I'm gonna.
And I think some people at workdidn't believe me or didn't
think I was gonna make it back.
And you know, I made it backand uh, I and uh I was.
I was really proud of myself.
I was really proud of myself onthe struggle that I went to.

(51:10):
And you know what?
What was really odd, john, isthat you know there was a lot of
things in my, in my life that Icared.
I cared about comic books, Icared about football, I cared
about college football.
I care, I came back, I didn'tcare for that anymore, that
didn't interest me anymore and Iquit buying comic books.
I don't watch that muchfootball.

(51:31):
I'd rather be alive and justexperience life than think about
that stuff.
And I don't know, it's just alot of things change.
I don't get angry.
I don't get angry so muchanymore.
I don't get angry.
I don't get angry so muchanymore.
You know, I don't get, I don'ttry not to get road range that
much anymore.
And like you know, like youwere saying earlier, I don't, I

(51:52):
don't take stuff personal, it'sjust business.
It's just business.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
So I was the same way , too.
I was very thankful that youwere here.
Yeah, I was very thankful thatyou were here, yeah, and you
know, I used to go into thehospital or go in to see you.
If someone cut me off, I waslike okay, you know, it was all
good.
You know, I didn't get angrylike how I used to.
I felt like if I did somethingwould backfire.
I don't know, I was very, verycautious, super cautious about

(52:21):
everything.
Yeah, you know, somethingspilled.
I was super cautious abouteverything.
You know something spilled.
I'm like okay, well, I guess Ihave to.
You know, something's stoppingme from going where I need to go
or something.

Speaker 3 (52:29):
Yeah, it was just Well, man and God is so good the
way he uses each of us in eachother's life.
There's this priest that I love, Father Mike.
He said this once and it'salways stuck with me.
He said God writes straight oncrooked lines and so all the
things, the wild things thathappen in our lives, all the

(52:51):
messed up families that we haveand all that kind of stuff,
right, but he still works it allfor good.
And I know for, like Robert,for you, like I prayed for you
every single night and, as aconsequence, like my prayer life
improved because I was focusedon prayer, Right, I knew like I

(53:12):
could.

Speaker 2 (53:13):
There was literally nothing I could do, you know,
but I know God could dosomething with it and so, just
seeing all these different ways,I'm sure and same thing for
Steven, I'm probably so manypeople you have no idea how, how
this experience positivelyaffected their lives oh yeah,
you know, I I always I don'tthink I told you this, but I'm

(53:33):
pretty sure the doctors, thenurses that helped you around
that they were one of them, ormaybe all of them were all like
why am I doing this?
Right, they were probably inthe midlife crisis or something.
And then they see you come back.
Yeah, they see you not onlycome back to live, but they see
you come back walking.

(53:54):
That probably motivated themmore, like that's why I'm here.

Speaker 4 (53:58):
Yeah, I didn't say this part, john too, like when I
first started walking inSeptember I went back to the
hospital on the cane and Istruggled really hard from
getting from the parking lot tothe building, but I made it
there and I caught the staffthat first got me.
I caught them in a meeting.

(54:19):
They were in a big meeting andI asked the front desk.
I said, is the staff back there?
He goes, yeah, go back there.
They want to see you.
Go, go, go, go.
So I went back there and thehead doctor, the one that was so
positive with me, he wastalking and the whole staff was
facing him and he saw me.
He stood up and they all stoodup and turned around and they
all started crying and oh, and Iwalked up to him and they were

(54:42):
all hugging me and I told himand they, they were, they were,
they were saying he goes.
You know, we don't get to see alot of times.

Speaker 2 (54:49):
You know the end product Yep yeah.

Speaker 4 (54:50):
Thank you so much for coming back and talking.
You know, and like my legs areshaking because I was so tired
and they go.
Do you need to sit down?
I go, I've sat down long enough, I don't want to see that
anymore.
So I thanked each person thatput the hands on me.
I thanked them and then I wentdown to the.

(55:13):
I went down to the ICU and Iwalked.
They were having a meetingthere too and I walked up and
the doctors there were lookingat me and they were talking and
they were like they kind of feltlike I was watching them and
they kind of the doctor stoppedand looked at me and goes can I
help you?
And I turned to him and I saidI pointed to the room, I said I
was in this room last year and Icame back to thank everybody
and he goes.
He looked at me, he goes you'rethe Guillain-Barre guy, right?

(55:35):
And I go, I am theGuillain-Barre guy and he goes.
Oh my God, you're walking andhe walking.
And he walked up to me and hehugged me and some of the other
nurses that they put their handson me came up and hugged me and
stuff, and like the doc, theone doctor, the one that was
steven was talking about earlier.
He was a nurse practitioner andhe was like doubting what was
going on with me.

(55:55):
He walked up to me, he goes, hegoes.
It's good to see you walking.
It really is.
I said I go thanks to you guys,thanks to you guys, I mean to
you guys, I mean I, I wouldn't,I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't
be here if it wasn't for youguys.
So, um, so I think you know I,I again, I was blessed to have
such a good group of people andI, I will, I will say this like

(56:18):
for people like you, john, andpeople, coworkers, that reached
out and try to, you know Lisa,who tried to find out what's
going on for me, and people thatwent to the hospital.
I had friends that I hadn'ttalked to in years and they
showed up and the.
You know the real, not not thatI'm trying to be negative here,
but you know when, when youhave something bad happen to you

(56:40):
, you find out who really lovesyou.

Speaker 3 (56:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (56:45):
And the people who don't need to be in your life,
work them way, the work thatwork themselves out, yep.
And so everybody, everybodythat was really negative toward
me, just disappeared.
They just scattered.
And everybody that loved me andI, you know, I'll say this I
felt loved.
I felt loved when everybody wasasking for me and I know when I
, when I make it back to work,there was some people that I

(57:06):
didn't see for years and theywould just, they just ran up to
me and just hugged me and I go.
What's going on?
It's because I haven't seen yousince you've been back.
I go, really, he goes.
Yeah, I thought I saw you.
He goes.
Maybe I just saw an email, Idon't know.

Speaker 3 (57:27):
But, but anyway, I know I've been rambling a little
bit, john, and I'm sorry.
No, no, it's, it's just, it'san amazing story.
It's the kind of story that Ithink people need to hear,
because it it gives us all amoment to reflect.
Isn't it amazing how short-termmemory we all have?
yeah you know, it's like thesecrazy things happen and and like
like you're saying, like oh, orSteven was saying I was really
calm, or I was really patient,or whatever, and man, you'd

(57:49):
think those lessons would last alifetime.
But I know if if I'm any kindof, if similar to anyone else
out there, it's the lessondoesn't last nearly long enough.
So I think it's always good tohear stories that make you pause
and think about the importantthings.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
And I was going to ask too I don't know if you ever
talked to John about this, butdo you remember that whenever
you broke down in front of me,one of those, those sentences
that you were saying, like youknow, you were saying I can't do
this, I'm scared.
Another, another thing thatreally impacted me is like I was
gone for seven minutes.
I don't remember any.
I don't.
I don't remember if I was inheaven.

(58:25):
I don't remember if I was inhell, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
And like I had the hardest timetrying to come up something
positive and the only thing Icould say is I go, you were
probably in heaven, but you saw,you saw.
You probably didn't see her.
You probably heard my momsaying it's not your time yet

(58:45):
and if you would have saw her,or you saw grandpa you know papa
deal, victor, you know otherpeople that we've lost.
You wouldn't want it to stayand they were like, no, you
can't stay, it's not your timeyet.
So they probably like erasedyour memory or race when you
came back.
That was part of the deal sendhim back, but erase what he saw.

(59:07):
That's the only thing I couldthink of and I and I wanted to
hear your perspective on that.
John, you know you're, you'regone for seven minutes.
That's a long time, yeah, avery long time.
You, some people I've heard somany people when they pass away,
they flatline for like a coupleminutes and they remember
seeing like something orsomething bad, something good.
So yeah, you know, I wanted tohear your perspective.

(59:27):
You know someone like you knowyou're religious and stuff.
Have you heard something likethat?

Speaker 3 (59:33):
yeah, I've.
I've, actually I've heardseveral stories where, um, so
I'm I'm not super surprised thatrobert can't remember anything.
Um, I've heard stories where,kind of like, where you're
saying people are like oh or orum, so I'm not super surprised
that Robert can't rememberanything.
I've heard stories where, kindof like, where you're saying
people are like oh, or who is it?
Your grandmother, or who was it?
Who's like it's beautiful.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
Oh, my mom.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
Yeah, we were just talking about it, yeah, yeah.
So it's like there's timeswhere people have these
experiences where it's beautiful, it's warm, there's a light,
they feel like they're aroundloved ones, right, welcoming
them into the afterlife, thingslike that.
Those are way more common thananything negative, which is
maybe a good thing, I hope.

(01:00:15):
But every now and then you getpeople who come back and they're
like oh man, I do not like I'vegot to change everything,
because what I saw was likeevery version of hell you can
imagine, kind of thing.
But I've heard lots of storieswhere people go yeah, it's, it's
like I just woke up and I don'tremember my dream, you know.

Speaker 4 (01:00:36):
Yeah, because, like I recall waking up from you know,
from coding and my up from.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
You know, from coding and my, that was another thing
too is that steve was saying hegoes, don't tell him what
happened because I don't even.
I don't think he knows andwe're like I think you were.
Luckily you weren't talking,but you know, whenever you got
to the writing part I was likewe can't really I don't want to
lie to him yeah, because likeonce, once they took the
ventilator off, um, I think, uh,I uh I forgot who the.

Speaker 4 (01:01:04):
I think it was Steve or Raymond.
No, they asked me hey, did yousee mom?
I mean, did you see dad, didyou see Sandra?
And I would looked at him likeinquisitively, like yeah, what
are you talking about?

Speaker 3 (01:01:14):
What are?

Speaker 4 (01:01:14):
you talking about, and he says and like my other
brother was telling him, I couldsee my other brother, like you,
you know, doing like his handunder his throat, like stop stop
, don't do that, yeah, yeah andso, um, I think raymond came in
after afterwards and he says doyou remember what happened?
and I go.
No, I go what happened.
He goes because you died forseven minutes and you came back.

(01:01:35):
He goes, you don't rememberanything, I go.
No, I felt, it felt like to me,it felt like a dream, because,
like the last four hours that Iwas alive, john, I don't
remember.

Speaker 3 (01:01:44):
Kind of loopy anyway, yeah, I was really loopy.

Speaker 4 (01:01:46):
I couldn't.
I think my brother was tryingto get me to eat.
It was chicken with somevegetables or something, but it
tastes like sand.
I didn't have any taste buds, Ididn't have any flavor, nothing
.
I go, I don't want it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
I like yeah I go, I don't want it, I can't eat, I
don't want it yeah, but uh, Ithink there's probably a very
strong medical reason why youmay not remember either, right?
Right literally, your nervesare not working.
So if if your brain is notworking properly and your nerves
are not working properly, thenyour mind may have had an
impaired ability to retain anykind of memory, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
It's a possibility, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:02:27):
Yeah, because when I woke up, when I took the
ventilator off, like I can'tremember what side of my face
was drooping right, your rightside, right side was drooping,
and so I had to go throughspeech therapy for it.
Yep, and like I was, like I was, I was so at the time, I was so
pissed because I was, I wasdoing speech therapy.

Speaker 2 (01:02:48):
I go I, go I can speak.

Speaker 4 (01:02:49):
What the heck yeah?
and, like you, had a hard timeyeah, and like they were, they
were giving me puzzles andquizzes and I had to color a
bunch.
Yeah, and like they would, theywould tell me stuff.
It goes, okay.
This lady goes to chicago.
She got two children.
Then she goes to a hotel.
The hotel burns down at thisdate.
What happened?
So, because who's with her?

(01:03:09):
I go, the two children, I go.
Yeah, it goes.
What date did the hospital burndown?
I go on this date, because whywas she there?
She was on vacation so.
So I had to answer all thesequestions.
I go, okay, can I stop doingthis now?
yeah, yeah, but, uh, but it isjust something I had to go
through at the time and you know, it's one of those things that
again I, I mean, I'm gonnaalways say this I, I was think I

(01:03:32):
was just blessed, you know, Iwas, you know, handpicked, well
that's yeah, that's like noteveryone gets a second chance no
um, even though our god is agod of second chances not not
all of us, you know it, or atleast not in such a dramatic way
.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:03:48):
And it definitely impacted your life.
Do you think it's changed ordeveloped over time?
Because I do think itpositively affected you, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:03:56):
I think so.
I mean I.
At that time there was a lot ofpeople.
There was a lot of people thatI in previous jobs and people in
my past that I did not havegood relations with, and so I
sought a lot of people that Ileft in a negative way and I
said hey, man, I'm sorry, I needto make this up to you.

(01:04:18):
And it was like people who justhadn't talked to in years.
And I went up to this one, thisone coworker that I used to work
with, and I hated this guy.
I tried to like him at first onand I couldn't.
I couldn't like him, and Iwalked up to him and I said hey,
man, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Itreated you bad and I'm here to
tell you that I want you.
I hope you forgive me.

(01:04:39):
And he hugged me he goes.
I already forgave you and I go,thank you, I thank you so much.
And so I went to a lot of peopleI think some of Stephen's
friends I didn't have goodrelations with, and I reached
out to them and I said look, man, I was immature and I'm sorry,
please forgive me.
And I think I surprised himwhenever I did that and he was

(01:05:00):
just standing, he goes man, okay, that's cool, I I'll take your
apology and I I did that with alot of people and I think it
changed me, you know, and I justI was just around just doing
the right thing.
Constantly I go well, no, wegot to do the right thing, I got
to do the right thing.
That's not the right thing todo.

Speaker 3 (01:05:19):
Yeah.
So I think you were.
I think you were imprintedsomehow in this experience, even
if only in your subconscious,because you didn't have the
ability to hold on to a memory.
I think there's something there, because it's not easy for many

(01:05:39):
people, especially men, it'snot easy to say sorry, right,
but saying sorry is a whole loteasier than asking for
forgiveness.

Speaker 4 (01:05:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:05:52):
And when you have the courage to ask for forgiveness,
not just apologize, but to askthat person can you forgive me?
Like that, it absolutely doessomething to you, right?
And we have confession andreconciliation, the sacrament of
healing, where we go to God andwe say this is what I did, I'm

(01:06:13):
sorry, can you forgive me?
And God of course he says yes.
I forgive you.
I love you.
You're my most beloved son.
Come on, you know, yeah, so Ithink that's it's good.

Speaker 4 (01:06:25):
Did you?
Did you notice a change in me?

Speaker 3 (01:06:27):
or whenever I came back, or yeah, I would say for
sure, cause you've always been akidder, right, and I think it's
easy to, especially again usguys, right, it's easy to pick
on somebody for fun and not notbeing malicious, necessary
necessarily, but it's easy tokind of pick too a little too

(01:06:47):
hard or too far, you know um andI would say that that you are
much gentler in that arena.
Now you know what I mean umyeah you would much rather be
the recipient than to give out ajoke like that, right?

Speaker 4 (01:07:06):
Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, it's just one of thosethings that I'm just, I'm just
happy to be here.
Yeah, I'm happy, I'm, I'mblessed to get a second chance.
I'm, I'm, I'm going to takeadvantage of it.
You know, I'm going to be abetter person and just do better
things and and try to make animpact, whether it's on my life
or someone else that I'm closeto.

(01:07:26):
I'm just going to, I'm justgoing to try to do it the best I
can.

Speaker 3 (01:07:29):
Yeah, so is that the kind of thinking about like if
you could tell, if you just grabsomebody by the shoulders and
shake them and tell themsomething, because, again, we
don't always get these secondchances.
But it's like, if you couldtell someone do this before it's
too late, what would be thatthing that you'd tell them?

Speaker 4 (01:07:46):
You know.
I would just tell them that youknow that stressing over a job
or stressing over just minorthings, those little things that
you know, that will break aperson's soul or break a
person's will.
You know, take a step back,look at it, and it's not that

(01:08:06):
bad.
I mean, it's not so like when Iwalked away from our job, the
job I had, I walked away.
It was a good paying job, yeah,and I was completely.
I had faith that God was goingto put me where I needed to be.
Yeah, whether it's going to bea low paying job, cause I, I

(01:08:28):
took a couple of low paying jobs.
But there's, you know, someoneat that job was telling me cause
, man, I'm sorry you had to stepdown from that job to come here
.
I said not really, because Ithink God put me here either to
influence someone or someone toinfluence me.

Speaker 3 (01:08:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:08:43):
So to influence someone, or someone to influence
me.
So I think it's important thatI made it to your life, or I
made it to someone here that Iwork with and now God's put me
at this really, really good job,that it's more money than I've
ever made.
And he did it for a reason hehumbled me and put me in
different spots so I could be,you know, motivated by someone

(01:09:05):
spiritually or mentally orphysically, and and and now I'm
here.

Speaker 3 (01:09:13):
So, um yeah, is it so hard to do, you think?
Do you find it difficult torespond to people from a
position of love or likepatience, or is it easier now
than?

Speaker 4 (01:09:23):
it is, it's easier than ever before.
Like I, you know, I don't, Idon't hate anybody, I don't hate
anybody.
I just, you know what I just Idon't know.
I mean I don't, I just don'thave that part of me anymore.
I just don't have it.
And I, I, I'm pretty patientnow I'm I'm patient with

(01:09:46):
Steven's boys, I'm patient withour neighborhood, I'm patient
with, you know, other coworkersright now.
I mean, you know, I, I, Ireally I, I really wanted to get
like when I was going throughrecovery, the, the guy that was
doing the recovery, he was greatguy and he asked me what's your
motivation?

(01:10:06):
And I think at the time I wasjoking and I said I want to get
married.
I wanted to get married.
And he goes okay, well, let's,let's get started on your
recovery so you can invite me toyour wedding, so and so, and I
was joking about that.
But love is great, but it's notalways for everybody.

(01:10:27):
I think God has put me I saythis all the time to Stephen and
I don't know if Stephen's heardthis many, many times God has
put me here for something.
I don't know what it is yet,but when I see it I'm going to
know.
And so I don't know what it isyet, but when I see it I'm gonna

(01:10:50):
know.
And so, uh, I don't know whatit is, but when I see it I'll
know.

Speaker 2 (01:10:52):
and one thing that you had to learn, too is I don't
know, you skipped over this youhad to learn to be patient with
yourself, yeah, and your body,yes, being in, in, because your,
your body is, is what you know.
So it's a powerful thing.
So to be imprisoned in yourbody, where you can't move, yeah
, and you can't like it'll,it'll, it'll really mess with

(01:11:15):
you mentally, spiritually, youknow, emotionally, you know, and
you will get depressed.
There's a it'll just spark thatlike that, because you can't
move, you can't do the thingsthat you're used to doing, that
you've been doing for a longtime.
So you had to learn to bepatient with yourself.
But you knew your mind wastelling it goes, I'm, I'm going.
I don't know if it's gonna taketwo years, but I'm for sure I'm

(01:11:39):
going to make it.
You know, get there and get itdone, because that's what you
kept telling me you go, I'mgoing to get it done.
I don't care how long it takes,but I'm going to get it done.

Speaker 4 (01:11:49):
Yeah, I think, uh, I was at that time, I think I
there was a point, like I wassaying before, I was a point in
time, but I was really, really,I was really hard on myself,
really depressed, and there wasa point extremely confident, yep
, and like in September of 2021,you can remember this I got

(01:12:09):
COVID.
Yeah, I got COVID, you got, yougot COVID too.
We had COVID at the same time,right, yep, and you were really
worried about me that I was notgoing to, and I told you this.
I said, dude, I go.
If Guillain-Barre is not goingto kill me, covid is not going
to kill me, I'm going to be fine.
Yeah, I said I go God didn'tput me all the way straight

(01:12:33):
through this to die for COVID.
I go.
I don't know what it is, buthe's got a plan for me.
I got to go figure it out, butI got to walk first.

Speaker 2 (01:12:39):
I had the opposite feeling Not for you, though For
me, because I'm a bigger guy andthat time they kept saying you
know, bigger people are gonna,they're gonna die.
So I was like I shaved.
Why I shaved?
Because I wanted to look goodin a casket oh my god, yeah.
so I remember telling uh my uhtherapist that and she goes why

(01:13:03):
that is.
So she was like that is so dark, like why did you?
Because I had COVID andeveryone kept saying you got
COVID, you're going to die, youknow.
And I was just like, okay, well, I mean watch the office and
you know just, you know shave.
I don't know how I shaved, Iwas so weak, don't know how I
did it, but you know, uh, I was.

(01:13:26):
I was scared for you, though Iwas like man, why, god?
Like, why did you have to getfreaking covet, like of all
things?

Speaker 4 (01:13:30):
you know, I was afterwards.
I was so mad at you because youdidn't you tell me how severe
you were, because I was askingme you got coveted, he goes.
Yeah, because I'm good, I'mgood, I'm right yeah, because I
was.

Speaker 2 (01:13:39):
I think, uh, you asked me it was like the first
four day.
Well, you called, we calledeach other every day, but uh, I
think, yeah, the first four daysI had the fever.
I had a fever earlier, but Ithink I think I'm beating it and
then I came back at night.
I go oh god, yeah it keepscoming back.

Speaker 4 (01:13:55):
Um, yeah, I remember I had a fever for three days and
I just had a big towel and hada big bowl of water and I just
dunked it in it and that's whatI just helped.
I just put it over my head thewhole time, yeah, and like my
hair was wet constantly.
Yeah, my ears got, you know,water inside, but I didn't care,
I just wanted to get this feverand get it over with.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
Yeah, and Blair got in and luckily the boys didn't
get it.
If they did, they beat it.
If they did, they beat it.

Speaker 4 (01:14:26):
But yeah, once I got over the first, week I was like,
okay, I think I'm going to begood.
Man, we're really rambling, I'msorry.

Speaker 3 (01:14:30):
John.
No, it's good.
I'm so glad that you guys tooktime out of your busy days to
chat with me.
This has been really fun, and Ialso, because, man, we have
been going for a little bit.
Let me.

Speaker 4 (01:14:45):
It's been an hour and 25 minutes.

Speaker 3 (01:14:47):
Yeah, start wrapping things up, but let me encourage
everybody again to go listen tothe Bigfoot Club podcast,
because we just recorded anepisode over there.
Of course, I want everyone togo listen to it as well.
Yes, about dreams.
Very good stuff, man guys thishas been fun.

(01:15:13):
This has been yes, we'll haveto find we will definitely.
Well, I'm going to have to getyou guys back on.

Speaker 4 (01:15:19):
Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (01:15:20):
Because we didn't even get a chance to talk about
Bigfoot and all that stuff.
No, I know, I know.

Speaker 4 (01:15:23):
We were.
We were so emotional talkingabout stuff.
And I am.
I am sorry that no one filledyou in on most of the stuff and
I apologize.
I'm glad you were able to fillin the blanks on some of the
stuff that was going on with me.

Speaker 3 (01:15:37):
Yeah, just a wild story.
Well, guys, thank you so much.
And again, everybody go listento Bigfoot Club podcast and guys
thanks for joining me andeveryone thanks for listening
and we'll go ahead and wrap itup.
So I'll see you, guys, when Isee you.

Speaker 4 (01:15:55):
Okay, thanks for having us on.

Speaker 3 (01:15:56):
Thank you All right, bye, y'all Bye.