Imagine having a loved one be admitted to the hospital for an illness or any other emergency while simultaneously losing your home and all of your belongings.
On August 26, 2017, Rockport resident, Carol Runyan, made the difficult decision to abide by the mandatory evacuation notice and fled to safety in Kingsville to stay with a friend before Hurricane Harvey hit. Like many other residents in the Coastal Bend, Mr. Runyan stayed.
Two days after the storm, Mrs. Runyan’s friend drove her back to Rockport to be reunited with her husband. What she saw still brings tears to her eyes.
“I walk in to the now flooded living room and just saw him sitting there on his recliner. Just like before, he didn’t talk or move. I called the police to see what I could do since I had heard that it’s illegal to force someone to go to a hospital but the officer assured me that this was an exception. An ambulance was sent right away.”
Once at CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi – Shoreline, the doctor let Mrs. Runyan know that her husband had severe sepsis, a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.
During the storm, Mr. Runyan received a cut on one of his legs from a piece of metal that flew off their mobile home. Due to prolonged exposure in flood water, the cut became infected sending the infection through his bloodstream later causing kidney failure and an abrupt change in mental status. Doctors immediately placed him on the list to have his leg amputated from the knee down to prevent the infection from spreading even more.
While these medical decisions were being made, Mrs. Runyan commuted to and from Kingsville since she could only afford staying at a hotel for two nights. Fortunately, one day while she visited her husband, Mrs. Runyan shared her story with a social worker who was rounding. The social worker then informed her about the Kieschnick Guest House, what they offered and where it was located.
Once Mr. Runyan drifted off to sleep, Mrs. Runyan made her way to the guest house and booked a room. She could not be happier and more relieved to have found an affordable place where she could feel safe and where she could be assured that if an emergency were to happen to her husband, she would only be a short walk away.
“The Kieschnick Guest House is truly a blessing. You can just feel God’s love in this house”, says Mrs. Runyan about staying in the guest house. “Everyone I have met here at the Kieschnick House has been friendly. From the staff to the guests, everyone I’ve encountered has brought support during this rough time. We all have different problems, but we’re all suffering in some way.”
When a family member becomes seriously ill, or suffers an experience like the Runyan family did, the whole family suffers. A loved one’s illness draws families together and the need to be close is great. An extended stay in a hospital far away means a warm home is often replaced by hospital corridors or an impersonal hotel room.
For 31 years, the Kieschnick Guest House has helped over 500 individuals/families per year from outside the Corpus Christi area stay close to their loved one during a long-term hospital stay. The Kieschnick Guest House provides families of loved ones receiving care at CHRISTUS Spohn a home-away-from-home where they may have a comfortable bed, convenient laundry facilities, and a family room for relaxation.
Families staying at the Kieschnick Guest House are asked to make a minimum $25 donation per night to help defray the costs of day-to-day operations. These revenues are not sufficient to maintain the house. Will you please take a moment to help us keep the Kieschnick House operational so that we can continue to give comfort to those in need? Every dollar you contribute will go to update, furnish and maintain the CHRISTUS Spohn Kieschnick Guest House.
Your generosity toward the Kieschnick Guest House will help:
- Upgrade bedrooms to better provide a safe, comfortable room for families that stay.
- Maintain and upgrade amenities essential for providing a real home for our guests.
- Buy new heating and air conditioning units to keep guests warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Home is where the heart is – please give from your heart.