Tim Redovian Memorial Fund

From Tim's Mom

November 1996

Dear Friends,

I’m not sure if what has happened to Tim will ever seem real.

Thank You, God, for this large loving family we are blessed with because without them Jim and I could not survive the sorrow that has entered our life. On November 6 our son Tim, sixteen, died of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a complication of viral pneumonia. Tim became ill with a virus October 10, was diagnosed with a beginning pneumonia October 12 at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital emergency room and was put on an antibiotic to take at home. We followed up with a visit to his pediatrician October 14, phone calls to the doctor the 15th and 16th and then on the evening of October 16 he was admitted to Scottish Rite’s ICU with a collapsed lung and pneumonia that had infiltrated both his lungs. He was critically ill for six days, fighting an up and down battle, until he could no longer breathe with the help of 100% oxygen. When it was apparent he would have to be put onto a respirator in order to breathe the doctors decided to move him to Egleston Children’s Hospital of Emory University so he would have access to an artificial heart-lung machine called ECMO (Extracorporal Membrane Oxygenation) in case his other lung collapsed when he was put on the respirator. His left lung did collapse in transport to Egleston and he was put on ECMO within hours, where he remained in a drug-induced coma, paralyzed so he wouldn’t move, for fourteen days. During this time the blood was moved from his body through the artificial lungs where it was oxygenated and warmed and then put back into his body, the theory being that his lungs would rest and heal while the machine did the work. Unfortunately it did not work for Tim, his lungs were irreparably damaged, and there was no choice but to let him go back to his Heavenly Father. So on November 6, 1996, with Kelly and Chris, Jimmy and Angie, Lorie and John, Danny and Christy, Alex, Jim’s sisters Barbara and Debbie and their husbands Larry and Brian, our ministers Dr. Jim Johnson and Dr. Larry Parsley, a large team of doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and Jim and myself gathered around Tim, holding on to him, the ECMO machine, the two respirators that were trying to separately ventilate his lungs, all the support equipment that was sustaining him, was turned off. Our Angel was back home; our time with him on this earth was over.

This letter is so difficult but I want everyone to know our son a little better. I would like to share Tim’s last year with you all. Tim was still at home, he still needed us to transport him around town and because he was so busy we really were focused on him. We loved everything he did and thoroughly enjoyed all the hours we spent with him. We had good relationships with him, his sister Lorie had spent many hours acting as substitute mother when Jim and I were off visiting Kelly in Hawaii (last January) or Jimmy in Tennessee. Our son Alex had just spent several weeks teaching Tim to drive because Tim couldn’t fit driver’s training into his schedule. Alex had recently come home from Columbus College and like a proud parent had taken Tim to get his driver’s license. Tim was pumped. He could finally drive, almost the last one in his class since he had that September 1 birthday and had just turned sixteen.

Our hearts are broken. We are so overwhelmed by Tim’s death that if it were not for our strong faith and the support of our family and friends I don’t know if we would survive. There has been such an outpouring of love for Tim and for us that I know we will be all right but we are asking for your continued prayers for Jim, me, and all of our family as every one of us is struggling with the pain of having lost our Littlest Angel.

I would like to close with the words of Mary Elizabeth Smith, Director of Stage Door Players’ Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. She writes in this year’s program, “I suppose the challenge and purpose of a director is to justify the show, to pull meaning from the piece and convey, through the cast, that meaning to you, the audience. So what is the meaning of ‘Joseph’, or more specifically, the coat? Why has this story stood the test of time? Webber and Rice certainly have their views-the ‘dream’ numbers that frame the show lead us to the conclusion that the coat can represent innocence-and the dreams of childhood-realized and lost. This show has taught me the importance of those childhood dreams and the importance of reaching for that star-through the death of our friend and cast member, Tim Redovian. Although Tim was only sixteen he fearlessly reached for those stars, the twinkle of God’s eyes, and held on to his dreams-many he realized, many he did not. Tim’s presence in this cast has touched us all in a very profound way. For his audition piece he sang “I’ll be your candle on the water and my love for you will never die.’ Tim, you are our candle on the water and our love for you will never die! We humbly dedicate this production of Joseph to the memory and dreams of Tim Redovian.”

Love,

Sherrill Redovian