GUEST FAMILY
PROFILE: The Sampson Family Story by Michelle Baldanza Photos by Cherl Sampson
NAME: Jeff & Cherl Sampson HOUSE: St. Louis VA Medical Center Fisher House St. Louis, Missouri HOME STATE: Alba, Missouri MILITARY BRANCH: Navy
Cherl Sampson clutched her steering wheel as she tried to see through the blinding January snow in 2019. She had just checked her husband, Navy and Vietnam veteran Jeff Sampson, into the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri to prepare for a double-lung transplant and was now headed to a place for her to rest: the St. Louis VA Medical Center Fisher House. Jeff 's lungs had been slowly degrading for months and were functioning at just 17 percent of normal capacity. Jeff was placed on a double-lung transplant list. When they learned a transplant had become available on January 10, Cherl and Jeff jumped in the car and drove from their home in Alba, Missouri to St. Louis. The weather hadn’t been bad when they arrived, but by the time Jeff was settled and it was time for Cherl to drive to the Fisher House, the clouds had turned into a snowstorm. With no cell phone signal and no GPS, Cherl became disoriented and lost. A small miracle came when her signal came back with just minutes left on her battery. She quickly called the local Fisher House manager, Vanniecia Brown, who went out into the storm to find her and led her to the doors of Fisher House. “I call Vanniecia my angel for finding me. She was the only one I could call. My phone totally went dead”, said Cherl. “I was nervous of course, because I didn't know anybody. I didn't know what this was, what the place was going to be like. I was nervous for his surgery, everything. But when I got there, the people just opened their arms.” Clockwise from top: The Sampson became close friends with other guests during their stay at Fisher House. Guests enjoy a meal in the dining room with Cherl and Jeff Sampson. Volunteers at the St. Louis Fisher House cook meals for guests.
4
THE PATRIOT • VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 2 • 2020
“That meant the world to me. I went ahead and had my surgery,” said Jeff. “My wife was back and forth every day, but she was staying at the Fisher House and when I got out after 10 days, I went to the Fisher House. It was a place to stay, but then the longer I was there, it was like home — home away from home.” Due to the nature of his surgery, it was important that Jeff ’s recovery was in a very clean location. “The staff was incredibly nice. I just can't say enough good things. The place was clean. Just having a double-lung transplant, I had to worry about germs and people breathing on me. I had to be extra careful,” explained Jeff. “Everybody had to be healthy there. I didn't have to worry about any kind of infection, any kind of sickness, because I knew everybody was healthy.” Jeff described how volunteers would come in once a month on Tuesdays and make tacos and certain volunteers would make “the best meatloaf I ever ate in my life” on the first Monday of the month. He went so far as scheduling his first annual follow up on