Story about Ryan Ostendorf

by Jason Belanger

It wasn’t until this past weekend that I had learned about where Ryan was at in his life with his faith and his relationship with the Lord.  And I can’t say that I’m surprised that such a great person like Ryan had such strong beliefs.  I only wish that I had gotten the chance to share them with him.  But I know that someday I will, and that makes me very happy.

Ryan had taken care of my mother one night.  She had fallen and had dislocated her knee and injured her leg.  Ryan was the Medic that answered the call. Ryan had no idea that she was my mother, as she didn’t tell him. My mother had told me that Ryan was the most professional, compassionate and caring person that had ever taken care of her. She felt like she was his main concern at the time and that he made her feel as if she was the only person in the world at that moment and she said that, that, felt wonderful. She said he made sure she was pain free, comfortable, had a smooth ride to the hospital and made sure that she had everything she needed during his care.

For those of you who had never gotten the chance to meet Ryan, this is the way he was with every patient.  Not just my mother, because he didn’t know she was my mother until he was leaving the hospital.  I’ll never forget the night I told my mother that Ryan had died in an accident.  She began to cry and told me she was so, so sorry, and that the world has lost a wonderful man.  She knows that he’s with the Lord, because there’s no way possible that a person like Ryan could be anywhere else.

How many people do you know that will cry over a person when they die after only meeting them once in their life?  This is the impact Ryan had on my mother and myself as well as everyone Ryan came in contact with. We will all miss him very much.