Cystic fibrosis

The death of a classmate causes unfamiliar emotions for columnist William Ryan, prompting the question, what is survivor's guilt?

Last year, I was in the hospital for pneumonia and was being transferred to another hospital. He was planning to go to Virginia Tech and follow in his uncle’s footsteps as a sports broadcaster. He was one of the best people I knew.” [Cystic Fibrosis News Today](https://cysticfibrosisnewstoday.com/) is strictly a news and information website about the disease. At the time, the school had a senior retreat four times a year that groups of about 40 students could go on, and he and I went on the first one together that year. I’m the one who had the Our school, while not as large as a typical public high school in the city, was big for a private school. Upon learning of his death, I was incredibly saddened, yet numb from crying. We had classes together over the years and were on the school’s campus ministry team, the equivalent to a public school’s peer leadership group. When it happened, I was sitting at my computer in the living room, listening to music and doing homework. I was 18 when survivor’s guilt first appeared in my life, and it’ll probably never leave me for as long as I live. I think it’s ultimately a selfish feeling, but sometimes we all have selfish feelings we can’t shake.