
Alek Hermon as a child together with his father, Michael, in 1992.
Hermon household photograph
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Hermon household photograph
This story is a part of the My Unsung Hero sequence, from the Hidden Mind staff. It options tales of individuals whose kindness left an enduring impression on another person.
When Alek Hermon thinks again to the worst week of his life, he additionally thinks of his unsung hero, Ray. It was 2019, and Hermon’s father, Michael, was in a coma and non-responsive after a traumatic mind harm.
Hermon and his household wished to make certain there was somebody with their dad always. So, the seven of all of them selected a shift within the intensive care unit, at a hospital in Dublin, Calif. Hermon volunteered to take the toughest time: early mornings between 3 and 6 a.m.
“It is by far probably the most traumatic, tough factor I’ve ever gone by,” Hermon recalled.
The one individual he interacted with in these hours was a nurse named Ray. Ray got here virtually each shift to handle Hermon’s father’s important indicators and fundamental wants. At first, Hermon did not pay a lot consideration to Ray. In truth, Hermon had a low opinion of him.
 ”He was making some type of allusions to Christianity and the ability of prayer,” Hermon recalled. “I’m an atheist and my father was a lifelong atheist. And I feel I simply had this type of harsh judgment of him.”
However over the week or in order that Hermon was there, he began to understand Ray. Most nights, Hermon would learn one in all his father’s favourite books to him, like Dune or an Isaac Asimov novel.
“Ray began commenting like, ‘Oh, I like that ebook,’ or, ‘I’ve learn this ebook,'” Hermon mentioned. “He requested me questions on my dad. He requested me what he was like, what his pursuits have been.”
Finally it grew to become clear that Hermon’s father had suffered complete mind loss of life, and Hermon made the tough resolution to take his father off life help. His father was an organ donor, so he was taken to an working room, the place practically a dozen medical doctors and nurses have been ready to take away his organs and tissues. For Hermon, it felt surreal.
“I am watching them take away his intubation and his IV, and I watch him flatline and die,” Hermon mentioned.
“You are surrounded by individuals, however they’re all utterly nameless as a result of they’re sporting masks and all of this protecting tools … It is a actually unusual feeling, of being surrounded by strangers but in addition being completely alone.”
After his father died, Hermon left the working room. Numb and alone, he began strolling down the hallway.
“I hear ft operating down the corridor and somebody calling my identify. And I flip round and it is Ray,” Hermon mentioned.
“He is ripping off all the sterilization gear and I notice he was truly one of many assistants on this room who was going to conduct this surgical procedure. And his eyes are utterly filled with tears.”
Ray embraced Hermon and held him in his arms.
 ”I bear in mind my knees mainly going slack and simply crying into this stranger’s chest and him crying like full power, weeping with me,” Hermon mentioned. “He noticed the true want at that second that I had and stepped up in a method that was so past what actually anybody else was ready to do for me.”
Hermon nonetheless thinks about Ray, a complete stranger who went out of his option to ensure that he wasn’t alone in his grief.
 ”He took my struggling critically,” Hermon mentioned. “He took my household critically. I used to be an actual individual to him.”
My Unsung Hero can also be a podcast — new episodes are launched each Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Mind staff, report a voice memo in your cellphone and ship it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.