Recently I had the chance to work on two fun assignments for the US News & World Report. One of those two took me to Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse, Wisconsin where I photographed Mike who has receiving chemo treatment for a rare form of lymphoma.
I had no idea Mike was to be discharged that afternoon until I arrived. It made for what could have easily been a depressing story into a joyous one. I spent an exciting afternoon with Mike and his wife Mary and an endless stream of hospital staff coming in to give their well wishes. It was easy to see the staff truly cared about Mike and he would be missed as they said their good-byes and shared an abundance of hugs. In the little quite time we did have we discussed our love for MPR(Minnesota Public Radio) and the usefulness of having an iPad to pass the time in a hospital.
The only sad point in the story came days after our assignment and finding out that the wife of Chris Stauffer, spokesperson for Gundersen Lutheran, died in a moped accident. Even though I only worked with Chris for a few brief hours I knew from the start he was a great guy. He understood what I was trying to do and was very hands-off and made sure I had the time and space I needed to capture heartfelt and telling images. Seeing what I saw from the Gunderson staff that day I know Chris was surrounded by love and support during a very tragic time.
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