Archive for the 'Obituaries' Category

Former Charlottesville Clerk of Court candidate Pam Melampy died suddenly of an aneurysm on Monday. On Sunday, having a terrible headache, she got checked out at Martha Jefferson Hospital. After a CT scan and an MRI, they sent her to UVA’s neuro ICU, where she died the next day. Melampy was 50 years old. A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church on Sunday morning at 10 AM.

My family and I have spent a great deal of time in UVA’s neuro ICU in the past two weeks. My mother-in-law likewise experienced a terrible headache exactly two weeks ago, and she also went to Martha Jefferson, which also sent her to UVA, although in her case Martha Jefferson kept her in the waiting room for three hours while her brain bled out. Her body and mind shutting down, UVA diagnosed her with a cerebral hemorrhage (basically an aneurysm). They removed a big chunk of her skull to remove the clot from her brain. And then we waited. The neuro ICU waiting room is a terrible place. Nobody is there for a minor problem. Many people are facing terrible choices of what to do for loved ones. The best news anybody’s liable to get there is “she’s alive right now.” But we got lucky. She lived, she’s regaining functionality, and tomorrow she’ll be moved to HealthSouth to start what’s likely to be weeks of therapy.

There are no warnings for aneurysms, cerebral arteriovenous malformations, or cerebral hemorrhages. If anybody you know ever suddenly experiences the worst headache of his life, get him to the UVA ER immediately, no matter his objections. Tell the ER that it’s an aneurysm, and insist on a CT scan. The odds of surviving an aneurysm isn’t great, but by reacting quickly, the odds improve. Surgery can stop the bleeding, relieve the pressure, and save a life.

Artist, humanitarian, and activist Gerry Mitchell has died. Unfortunately best known recently for being hit by a police car (and then ticketed), Mitchell was known and loved in the area long before then. He’d been diagnosed with AIDS back in the 1980s, and despite awful complications (he was confined to a wheelchair), Mitchell was active in the community, an outspoken supporter of hospice, and racked up thousands of miles in his electric wheelchair in his travels. Mitchell was 58.

To learn more about Mitchell, see this short documentary about him, filmed five years ago.

This morning, shortly after 11:00, my friend and boss Kevin Morrissey took his own life at the coal tower. He left his apartment, walked down Water Street and called the police to report a shooting at the coal tower, a shooting that actually came shortly thereafter. A lifetime of grappling with depression combined with recent stresses proved too much for him. He was the managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review at the University of Virginia since 2003. Kevin was dogged at his work, meticulous in his detail, and one of the finest human beings I’ve had the privilege to know. Survived by his father, sister, and brothers, he was was 52 years old.