The lifesaving care a woman received more than three decades ago was never forgotten. Frances Rose Rappy left Rock Springs, Wyo.-based Memorial Hospital $1.6 million to "go to whatever new miracle machine is wanted," to be gifted to the hospital upon her death, according to the Wyoming Business Report.
After surviving a near-fatal car crash in 1983, Ms. Rappy, then 42 years old, spent eight months recovering at Memorial Hospital, including four months on a respirator. She was then paralyzed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the nerves. Eventually, Ms. Rappy returned to her home in New York, but the care she received at Memorial Hospital stayed in her memory.
"She must have been a wonderful lady," CEO Jerry Klein said of Ms. Rappy, according to the report. "It's a wonderful, wonderful gift that can help so many people for decades to come.
Mr. Klein said Memorial Hospital has purchased "a lot of miracle machines" with the money it gained from the trust.
At a board meeting last week, hospital attorney George Lemich read Ms. Rappy's draft letter to the hospital leaders.
"I cannot tell you how often I think of 'MH of SC!' The staff donating 117 pints of blood and everything else that was done to keep me alive — when I 'coded' five times! The incredible persistence of the physical therapist — an angel on Earth!" Ms. Rappy wrote, according to the report. "I received attention that was caring, life-giving, thoughtful and generous in so many ways and filled my heart with so much joy and gratitude for the staff!"
In return for her gift, Ms. Rappy asked only for a plaque detailing her gratefulness to "a hospital and staff that SO deserve this," she wrote.