“The Miracle That Walked In”

Sometimes, a small interaction with a stranger can be a light during our darkest times.

A few months ago, a woman named Kristyn Kusek Lewis wrote to me about a young man she met in an ICU waiting room at Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia.

She had just flown in from Washington, D.C., to keep vigil for her father, Peter Kusek, who’d suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. She was exhausted, afraid, and sitting alone when the man walked up to ask when the front desk staff would return.

That question turned into a life-affirming conversation.

The man, whose name she soon learned was Darian Hardy, told her he was back at the hospital to thank his nurses and hospital staff.

Two years earlier, Darian said they had saved his life after he was shot three times in the head when he and his brother spotted a man breaking into their neighbor’s house. The intruder had chased them across the street and pulled out a gun… which Darian’s mom, who was out on their front lawn, spotted first.

She told the boys to run as the man opened fire. But instead of listening to his mom and running away from danger, Darian took a bullet for her.

Darian was in a coma for almost two months and then had to endure another year of hospitalization so he could relearn how to walk and talk. “I flatlined four or five times. But I came back,” he said quietly. To hospital staff, it was a miracle.

Darian showed Kristyn videos of his recovery, told her how his faith in God carried him through his weakest moments, and shared how his family never left his side. 

Then Darian told her something she’d never forget: “Keep talking to your dad. He hears you.”

The whole encounter only lasted about fifteen minutes, Kristyn told me. “But it got me through a terrible day. He gave me hope. I’ll never forget it.”

By the time he crossed paths with Kristyn, Darian had already been named Trauma Survivor of the Year by the hospital. But she saw more than that — she saw the kindness of a young man who turned his own suffering into a life preserver for those in the middle of their own storm.

“He’s someone who had something horrific happen to him,” Kristyn said, “and he’s using it for good.”

After their initial conversation, Darian sent her a message saying he and his girlfriend were praying for her dad. Even after Kristyn’s father passed away weeks later, Kristyn told me that she still thinks about that conversation with Darian — the stranger who spoke when everyone else in the room remained silent.

“He gave me a greater sense of what we can do for each other,” she said. “Sometimes it’s as simple as reminding someone they matter.”

Today, Darian shares his story publicly to comfort others who are struggling. As an author, Kristyn writes about grief and grace, and how that fifteen-minute exchange became a light she still carries.

Here’s my takeaway: Sharing our stories has the power to comfort, to inspire, and even help heal a broken heart.

It’s why Kristyn wrote to me in the first place: “You don't want to burden anyone with your bad news, but it can actually be exactly what they need to hear to keep pushing forward.”

We dedicate this week’s newsletter to Kristyn’s dad, Peter Kusek. May his memory be a blessing.☀️

Do you have a story that lifts hearts and brings people together? We’d love to hear it. Click the link below to share yours.

Here are some reactions from the newsletter last week.

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Here’s something that makes my heart smile: a young Japanese man named Naoto was partly inspired to come out after encountering Jeremy (my partner) and me during a recent trip to the country. He expressed how the culture in his rural hometown had discouraged him from publicly being who he is. But seeing us comfortable and proud in our relationship struck a chord with him. And when I shared his journey on social media, Naoto was met with words of encouragement from around the world to be unapologetically himself.

Naoto has now written a book about his coming-out experience, which includes the story of our interaction. You can read it here! I couldn’t imagine a better way to close out LGBTQ+ History Month than with this man’s profile in courage.