The moment Jim and Cindy Mininni met one another, they fell in love and were inseparable for the past 24 years.
A photo of the two, both on life support, was captured by their son, Christopher, showing the two holding hands.
Jim Mininni was admitted to the ICU late last month. The next day, Cindy suddenly suffered a heart attack and was also placed on life support. Both were sent to different hospitals, and Chris spent days running between the two, waiting for his parents’ respective prognoses.
“It was frightening,” he told People magazine. “I didn’t know what to do. It was the worst thing ever.”
His mother was then transferred to the hospital where his father was staying, Kingston General Hospital in Ontario, Canada, on May 3. He said his father’s doctor “took it in his own hands to get my mom to Kingston,” the CBC reported. “I should’ve realized it wasn’t a good sign but I was so appreciative of what he did.”
There, he was able to snap a photo of the two together just hours before his father died.
His father had battled lung cancer for the past decade and had a large tumor blocking his airway.
“He said, ‘If you can’t save me, don’t prolong my life,’” Chris told the magazine. “Because of his own wishes we couldn’t put it back in,” he added, referring to the breathing tube.
Doctors then told him “there was nothing we can do for your dad,” adding that “he'll go for as long as he can go.”
Cindy, all the while, was sedated in a room near her husband.
“We told him that mom was now here,” he says. “He started freaking out. But when we told him he wasn’t going to make it he got out a pen and paper and tried to write because he wasn’t able to speak.”
He only wrote down letters “M” and “O.”
“We didn’t know what was he trying to say,” says Chris. “We thought he was trying to write mouth because it was very frustrating to him that he couldn’t speak.”
Then he wrote one word, “mom.” After that, the hospital put the two together in the same room. “It was very risky,” he added. “But they did it for them.”
After doctors told Jim he'd be able to see Cindy, he “started bawling and saying thank you by doing the praying motion,” Chris said.
Jim was then wheeled into his wife’s room and got to say goodbye. He was able to hold her hand and cry.
“When she woke up a few days later, the first thing she said was, ‘Is dad dead?’” added Chris. “My dad loved my mom with all his being,” he said. “Nothing could keep them apart.”
Cindy has no recollection of the moment, and she is making a full recovery.
“I wanted to show my mom when she got out of the hospital that dad was her almost until his very last breath,” he said. “She wasn’t able to witness the power and love he was showing her.”
Chris said he posted the photo on Reddit, and the response has been overwhelming.
He told News.com.au: “I will never ever regret posting the photo. I understand people might be thinking I’m trying to get internet points but it was more about sharing a beautiful moment.
“My friends said to me that you see your parents but we see true love, so even if nobody saw it, it wouldn’t have mattered to me.”
