Sometimes, Gideon gazes upon his 3-year-old son, Jonathan, asleep and snuggled up against mom Susie, and thinks: “This is what heaven must look like.” Then he remembers how that heaven was threatened.
With three Mission Bay hospitals in place, UCSF will be even stronger. We’re proud to contribute in any way we can to that outcome.
Jonathan was just 2 months old when his parents rushed their crying baby to a local emergency room. Eleven grueling hours passed before x-rays, blood tests, and scans revealed a broken bone and something more worrisome: a potential issue found in a scan of Jonathan’s brain. “We were first-time parents, and we were freaking out because after 11 hours, we still had no answers,” recalls Susie.
When no one at the hospital could provide the assistance or information they so frantically sought, the Yus realized they were falling through the cracks, and mobilized every acquaintance in search of help for their son. The resounding recommendation: Get Jonathan to UCSF. Today, they say it was the best advice they’ve ever received. At UCSF’s children’s hospital, Gideon watched solemnly as Jonathan lay restrained, a CAT scan beam casting a grid of red lights across the boy’s tiny face. “In that moment, I just held Jonathan’s hand and cried, wishing he didn’t have to go through this,” Gideon recalls.
Over the next several days, the compassionate, informed attention of a UCSF specialist in pediatric neurology put them at ease, Gideon and Susie say. With a clear sense of their options, and the recommendation to monitor Jonathan closely as he approached each new developmental target, they brought their angel home. And they took action to ensure that other parents with threatened angels of their own can receive the exceptional care Jonathan experienced at UCSF.
Today, Jonathan is a normal, happy, and—most important—healthy little boy. Like his parents, he’s fun-loving and compassionate. And Gideon and Susie are active angels of UCSF, through philanthropy and through the great gift of their time, energy, and considerable talents. “When I think about the next chapter of my life, I know I want to contribute to great causes like UCSF,” says Gideon. And he and Susie want Jonathan, as he grows, to experience all the opportunities under heaven.
