The flowers arrived on March 11 — same as the year before. The emergency department team at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale didn’t know who’d sent them, only that they were sent in memory of a patient who had passed away there. Curious and motivated to solve the mystery, a hospital leader took the initiative to reach out to the florist, who reached out to the sender, who agreed to share the story.
The sender was Amy Antkiewicz whose husband, Rich, died from a ruptured aortic dissection in the UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale emergency department in March 2024. While changing lightbulbs at home, her husband began experiencing symptoms of the rupture. Less than an hour later, he was gone.
There is no playbook for getting through the sudden and devastating loss of a husband of nearly 30 years. But Antkiewicz created a way that helped her process the loss.
“Beside the shock, disbelief and grief that goes along with it, I really wanted to find the silver lining on things,” Antkiewicz said. “I want to pay things forward now. So, I just try to do as much as I can to honor him. Sending flowers helps me heal. I just want to stay positive, keep going forward and keep Rich’s memory alive.”
Honoring the Care Team for Giving Their All
Antkiewicz planted a tree in memory of her husband at a nearby park. She and their family hold celebrations of his life every year on the anniversary of his death. Antkiewicz plans lunches and outings with his team at work — he’d worked at the same company for more than 30 years. And for the past two years on March 11 — the anniversary date of her husband’s death — Antkiewicz has sent a flower arrangement to the emergency department team at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale. The team sent a photo with the flowers to Antkiewicz.
“It was a humbling moment and made us reflect back on what our work means to people,” said Nikki Schiever, director of emergency services at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale. “You don’t always realize the lives you touch. Something beautiful can come out of something bad. We need reminders of that to keep going.”
Creating Light in the Darkness
Antkiewicz recognizes that the team did all they could do for her husband, just like they do every day for people who come through the hospital’s doors.
“They give it their all,” she said. “Every day they work on people they don’t know.” Sometimes there are happy endings and sometimes “they have to console people that have been literally just crushed.
“Maybe flowers are there when somebody is going through a hard time that might be a little light in the darkness.”
Chris Zurales is manager of marketing and communications at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth.