On Sundays, 24-year-old Rolf Benirschke played under stadium lights as the kicker for the San Diego Chargers.
Monday through Saturday, in a quiet hospital room far from cheering crowds, a different reality was unfolding.
“Statistically, it was one of the best seasons of my career,” he remembers. “But there could have been a footnote that said, ‘this young kicker is dying.’”
It was a painful paradox: an elite athlete performing at the peak of his career, and a critically ill patient fighting for his life.
Eventually, both worlds collapsed.
From the NFL to the ICU
Rolf’s journey to the National Football League (NFL) was never part of his plan. Raised by a physician and surrounded by science and curiosity, he grew up more interested in the natural world than sports. But a twist of fate (and a strong right leg) led him to football, quickly finding success in the NFL.
Then, in his second season, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
The illness grew worse each week. He lost weight and endured constant pain. But he kept playing. His routine was almost unimaginable. He played the game on Sunday, entered the hospital that night for IV nutrition, remained hospitalized during the week, had the line removed on Saturday, then rejoined his team in time for the next game.
On a flight home from a game during his third season, Rolf collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Complications followed. A second surgery left him septic and fighting for his life.
When he woke up, everything had changed.
Rolf lost 65 pounds. His abdomen was held together with surgical wire. Two ostomy bags hung at his side. Sepsis surged through his bloodstream, sending violent fevers through his fragile body. Doctors told his father he likely wouldn’t survive the night.
But he did. For six weeks, Rolf lived in the ICU with relentless pain, mourning the life and career he thought he would have to abandon.
“I don’t even want to live,” he remembers telling the nurse who cared for him. “There’s nothing I can live for.”
That nurse’s name was Helen Delgado. And she helped him find a reason to live.
The Power of Nurses™
Helen listened when Rolf complained about the unfairness of his illness. She acknowledged his grief. She didn’t dismiss his fears.
But she refused to let him stay in bed.
“She was empathetic,” Rolf says. “But she also had this strong commitment to do what was right for me. And that was pushing me to relearn how to walk.”
At first, Rolf could only manage a few painful steps to a chair. The next day, to the nurses’ station. Then around it. Every movement hurt, but Helen supported his every step.
Without knowing it, Helen gave Rolf the gift of hope. Her compassion changed the trajectory of his recovery.
When the fear was overwhelming, the future was uncertain, and he was at his most vulnerable, Helen was there.
“The time in the middle of the night when you're alone and scared and wondering,” Rolf recalls, “it's not the doctor that's there. It's the nurse.”
Nurses are there to listen when patients are angry. To hold space for grief. To say the right words when someone feels lost.
And sometimes, to push a patient to take the next step.
Life and Legacy
Against extraordinary odds, Rolf recovered.
He returned to the NFL and continued his career, playing professional football with an ostomy bag.
Soon, letters began arriving from patients across the country who had undergone ostomy surgery. Many were frightened and convinced their lives were over.
Those letters inspired Rolf to create “Great Comebacks,” a program sharing stories of people thriving with ostomy bags. He later compiled those stories into books, often distributed to patients by their wound, ostomy, and continence (WOC) nurses.
Today, he remains a passionate advocate for those nurses and the patients they serve.
“Helen and her colleagues didn’t just help me heal. They inspired the advocacy work I’ve done ever since. Their compassion helped give birth to our nonprofit, Embracing Ostomy Life, which provides resources for WOC nurses to share with their patients and brings hope to thousands of patients through my story. The nurses were the turning point. They didn’t just save my life. They helped me find my purpose.”
Looking back, Rolf knows his story didn’t change in the operating room. It changed because a nurse believed his life was worth living.
Rolf founded Embracing Ostomy life to support, educate and guide ostomy patients through their recovery and help them thrive again.
How has a nurse impacted your life? Share your story at ThePowerOfNurses.org.
