Cooperative Living April 2024 - 6

POWERFUL CAREERS
Proof of the
Goodness in People
Co-op family comes together following
life-changing event
by Chelsea Wootten, Contributing Writer
L
ast summer, Rob Book was fi nishing up his fi rst six
months as Delaware Electric Cooperative's president
and CEO. Enjoying the challenges associated with
leading one of the largest distribution cooperatives in the
country, he was working long hours focusing on employee
morale and reinvigorating DEC's spirit of innovation. By
September, things changed. Book was exhausted, struggling
to stay focused, and felt a growing sense of unease.
With his condition deteriorating, Book was admitted
to a local hospital later that month. By the following week,
he was in the intensive cardiac care unit at the University of
Pennsylvania Hospital fi ghting for his life. When doctors
told him and his family that his only chance of survival was
a heart transplant, they were stunned.
" At fi rst I couldn't quite believe it, " Book says. " Up until
that moment, I assumed I was relatively fi ne. Th e next thing
I knew, I was in the hospital. My life, and the life of my
family, had changed in the blink of an eye. "
Book spent two months in the hospital, praying for a
suitable donor heart to become available to him. Bacteria
from a virus had caused an infection in his heart, which
was functioning at less than 20%. For his family, it was a
frightening time. Book says the experience has made him
more thankful for his life and the people in it - it also
opened his eyes to just how deep those connections are
with his employee family.
" My family and I are overwhelmed with gratitude for the
love and support we received from our co-op family. To know
that my friends and co-workers - almost 180 people -
were here rooting for me, it really proves the inherent goodness
in people, and I will never be able to say thank you enough, "
says Book.
Th e entire DEC team came together to help and support
him. Recognizing the necessity of keeping daily meals on the
table during that stressful time, their fi rst step was to start an
online meal train for employees to sign up to make or order
food for the family. Operations Supervisor Josh Wharton
attributes the great response to the overwhelming sense of
family and community DEC employees share.
" One of the qualities that sets co-ops apart from other
utilities is the family-like atmosphere where everyone not only
knows each other, but their families as well. When tragedy
4 * Cooperative Living * April 2024
" My family and I are overwhelmed
with gratitude for the love and support
we received from our co-op family. "
- Rob Book
strikes one of us, we all feel it, " Wharton says. " As expected,
the DEC team was willing to do whatever they could. "
" For me it was all about knowing that when God is in it,
there is no limit, and he was working it all out for his good, "
says Gladys Aviles-Johnson, new service representative.
" I think for Rob, knowing that we were all praying for him,
and aſt er reading the heartfelt cards and hearing those kind
words, it liſt ed his spirits, and in that moment, he knew
he was loved. "
On Nov. 4, Book and his family received the best giſt
they could have hoped for as the holiday season approached;
a donor heart had been secured - one that doctors viewed
as a perfect match. A successful transplant followed the next
day. DEC used its emergency texting notifi cation program
to alert employees that the surgery was successful.
" One of the most humbling aspects of being the recipient
of an organ donation is realizing that in order for you to get
that donation, someone else didn't make it home to their
loved ones, " Book says. " It's a very sobering fact, and for
me, it really put the giſt I have been given - a new heart
and a new opportunity to live my life - into perspective.
I encourage everyone to sign up to be an organ donor.
In doing so, you could be saving a life, and impacting many
other lives in the process. "
On Feb. 7, Book received a very warm welcome back to
DEC for the fi rst time since his hospitalization in the fall.
Employees cheered as he tearfully thanked them for their
support over the prior months. " For me, coming back to
work was an important step in my recovery, " he says. " It
gave me a chance to express appreciation to those who gave
me hope and kept me going during some dark times. "
*
For more information, visit vmdaec.com/powerfulcareers.
co-opliving.com
PHOTO COURTESY CHELSEA WOOTTEN
http://www.vmdaec.com/powerfulcareers http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living April 2024

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