For Those Who Need a Good Cry

St. Petersburg Times

Brian Jenkins, from West Palm, and Samantha Peterson, of Citrus County

Well, here's a story that pretty much restores one's faith in mankind. It's the story of two cystic fibrosis patients at opposite sides of Florida trying to make a go at love -- despite the fact they were each trying to break in a new set of lungs. Samantha Peterson is an 18-year-old from Citrus County whose new lungs betrayed her last in November, causing her to slip into a coma. She lost her mother on Jan. 2 to a heart attack and yesterday she endured a 7-hour operation to get yet another set of lungs.

Brian Jenkins is a 25-year-old from West Palm who also has cystic fibrosis and has been trekking across the state to check on Peterson, who had consoled Jenkins in similar fashion when his new lungs went bad a short time before.

Peterson's operation went well, according to today's story.

(It's nice to see that some men drive out of Palm Beach County for something other than nefarious reasons.)