In the course of two days, a man visiting Salt Lake City watched his nephew die, stood by helplessly as his sister had a nervous breakdown, and, as if that weren't enough, lost his wheelchair to a thief.
"It's really frustrating that this poor man would have his wheelchair stolen right after his nephew dies," said Shirley Blake, a coordinator in the bone marrow transplant unit of Primary Children's Medical Center. "He's just visiting here and all these things happen."Royce Grant, from Las Vegas, was there when his 14-year-old nephew, Ryan, died Tuesday afternoon in Primary Children's Medical Center of complications from cancer.
Ryan had slowly improved since a July bone marrow transplant, Grant said, but recently took a turn for the worse. His body was so weak that he finally succumbed to a simple yeast infection.
Grant's sister, Pamela Grant, Ryan's mother, was so upset by Ryan's death that she was overcome and went into a catatonic state Wednesday.
"She just sat there," Grant said. "She didn't talk, she felt nothing, apparently, saw nothing . . . They took blood from between her fingers and she didn't even twitch."
Grant, 53, couldn't help much in getting his sister to the University of Utah psychiatric ward. His right leg was amputated at the knee, lost to diabetes complications two years ago. Someone stole his wheelchair Tuesday night at his hotel.
"That wheelchair's worth $1,600," Grant said. "I can only go so long on my artificial leg, and then I can't do anything except to crawl. I can't reach the counter, can't reach the sink . . . It's frustrating."
Salt Lake Police Sgt. Phil Kirk said he didn't know why someone would steal Grant's wheelchair.
"I don't feel too good about it," he said. "It's kind of cold-blooded."
If police do not recover Grant's two-year-old wheelchair he will have to pay for a new one himself. Medicare will only pay for a new wheelchair every five years, he said.
Despite everything, Grant is philosophical about his stay in Utah.
"I'm old enough to take it," he said. "I (still) love Salt Lake."
Ryan was buried in Cedar City on Friday, Grant said. Pamela Grant has recovered sufficiently to attend the funeral, though she's still not quite herself.
"It still doesn't sound like her (voice)," Grant said, "but at least she's talking."