In December of 2015, the Stafford’s came to Birmingham because Cy was very sick. They were missionaries to Africa and they thought he had contracted something while there.

After failed attempts to discover what was wrong with Cy, their hospital in Mississippi sent him to Birmingham. After testing, UAB came to the conclusion that he had leukemia. He immediately started chemo and it almost killed him.

We all prayed for a miracle and even though the family was “called in” several times, Cy bounced back. Once they took him off of life support, he came back to life! They were able to go home to Hattiesburg, Mississippi when he was in remission. Cy was not home long before he became ill again and had to come back to Birmingham. This time, they stayed at Red Mountain Grace’s apartment at Summit 150. They were the first guests to stay there after we acquired its residence. This apartment was large enough to allow his children and grandchildren to visit with him.

On February 1, 2017, Cy passed away, at his home in Mississippi. We all became so close to Cy and Stephanie— more like family.