{"id":92615,"date":"2026-08-14T13:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T19:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=92615"},"modified":"2026-08-14T14:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T20:25:26","slug":"feisty-at-heart-patient-93-and-his-family-connect-with-nurses-at-end-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/feisty-at-heart-patient-93-and-his-family-connect-with-nurses-at-end-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Feisty at heart: Patient, 93, and his family connect with nurses at end of life"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

During the last days of his life, Duane \u201cShorty\u201d Lankford, 93, and his family developed a meaningful connection with his care team through good coffee, mountaineering and dry humor.<\/p>\n

The Fort Collins hospital where he was born in 1932 \u2014 then Larimer County Hospital, now UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital (PVH) \u2014 is also where he died in August 2025. Months later, his family brought staff in the progressive care unit (PCU) a package containing saltwater taffy, coffee beans and a copy of the bill from his birth, along with a handwritten note:<\/p>\n

\"Nurse
Intensive care unit nurse Julia Anderson talks with patient Duane “Shorty” Lankford at the bedside at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital. Photo: courtesy of the Lankford family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c\u2026We just can\u2019t stop saying thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the compassionate and ultraprofessional treatment and care you provided to him \u2014 and to our entire family. We remain forever grateful, and think of you all often, with tears and smiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shorty was a former investment banker and global adventure travel guide who led treks to the Himalayas, Africa, South America and beyond. He lived in Estes Park and skied into his 80s, often with an oxygen tank on his waist. He arrived at PVH by ambulance, scarcely able to breathe, disoriented and \u201cfighting back hard against his caregivers as if he\u2019d been kidnapped against his will,\u201d according to his family.<\/p>\n

During his weeks at the hospital, his wife, Jariyaporn \u201cToon\u201d Lankford, would make the daily drive from the mountains to arrive at his bedside with fresh coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the very get-go, you could just tell she cared so much about him,\u201d said Nathanial Spawn, BSN, RN, with the PVH PCU. \u201cYou could tell there was just a lot of admiration from her for Shorty and his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shorty was battling emphysema, a chronic lung condition. His family shared appreciation for the nurses\u2019 focus on keeping him comfortable. Acknowledging that Shorty could be feisty, the family said his care team developed rapport with him: \u201cWe could visibly see Shorty relax \u2014 and begin joking around in his signature sharp and sarcastic way \u2014 whenever Nate was in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spawn would check on him frequently, and he quickly picked up that it was important to explain to Shorty what he was doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very particular person. He really was very confident in his choices,\u201d Spawn said. \u201cHe wanted a lot of say in what was happening. We started a good relationship of trust. When I came in with insights and shared information, it was coming from a sincere point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Have you ever been to Nepal?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of Spawn\u2019s favorite parts of nursing is the opportunity to chat with people, and he said Shorty was a fun one to talk with.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very interesting personality, he was very dry-humored. He kind of rubbed people the wrong way,\u201d Spawn said. \u201cI think we appreciated each other so much because we were able to joke with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once, Spawn was talking with Shorty while giving him some medication to help with his breathing. He tried to strike up a conversation as a little distraction from a stressful situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018What was your favorite mountain in Nepal?\u2019 He looked at me, and he was like \u2014 with a very inquisitive look on his face, \u2018Have you ever been to Nepal?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018No.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Why do I need to tell you and explain something to you if you\u2019ve never been there and you couldn\u2019t relate?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I guess that\u2019s right. I\u2019m just trying to engage in some chit chat.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Chit chat?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Like small talk.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said something like, \u2018I tend to not engage in conversation like chit chat, it seems irrelevant and nonsensical to me. It\u2019s stupid. It\u2019s a waste of my time.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI just started laughing, and I was like, \u2018OK, I\u2019ll stop that now.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n

From that point on, Spawn avoided small talk or, if he tried, would say, \u201cThis is that chit chat I was talking about earlier, I\u2019m curious to know how your day is going,\u201d and then Shorty would talk with him.<\/p>\n

As a night-shift nurse, Sean Belfrage, BSN, RN, with the PVH PCU, would come into Shorty\u2019s room at two-hour intervals to reposition and check on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you\u2019d go in, he\u2019d either give you a stare and just look at you and be upset that you were in there, or maybe give you a quick response of, \u2018Why are we doing this? Why are we here?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI tend to have that effect on patients, I guess, walking in at 2 in the morning or whenever it is,\u201d Belfrage said. \u201cAs much as we say you need to get sleep, it doesn\u2019t happen as much as we would like. Which was obviously why he was probably pretty grumpy with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Shorty would also open up to Belfrage, sharing with him about how small the 100-year-old hospital used to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe carried himself with a little bit of defiance at all times, whether it was to us or to his disease process,\u201d Belfrage said. \u201cHe was gruff but always appreciative. He would thank us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018To be able to have a really good fight and choose a comfortable passing\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julia Anderson, BSN, RN, with the PVH PCU, was preparing for a trip to the mountains in France and learned from Shorty that he\u2019d climbed Mont Blanc, the same mountain she planned to hike. He shared his experiences while she cared for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had this complicated medical picture,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI\u2019m sure there was an element where he felt really discouraged, a mountaineer who had kind of defied all the odds. It was fun to get to know him and come back to that philosophy of, \u2018You can do this. This is another mountain for you to climb. Find the summit, and be at peace then.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She encouraged Toon to bring photos, treats, coffee and a favorite blanket. Often, Toon would return from trips home with photos of elk to show Shorty. When a patient is facing the end of life, connection with the people and things they love matters dearly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s always my hope, and my prayer is to have that,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cBecause we see so much death. I work in the PCU and the ICU, and in this critical care world, you\u2019re always surrounded by death.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone like Shorty, to be able to have a really good fight and choose a comfortable passing is really such a gift, because you get these special moments out of that. We have the ability to make it what you want. The ability to find this special connection. To pull his wife, his life, into things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a joy and an honor when it does happen. Shorty was on his own terms. Everything came back to his choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Duane
Duane “Shorty” Lankford skins up Hidden Valley Bowl in Rocky Mountain National Park on May 17, 2009, wearing an oxygen tank and nasal cannula.
Photo: Dr. William Benedict<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When he died, Anderson was on her trip to France, hiking in Chamonix, where Shorty had previously traveled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came back, it was such a relief to know our team is really, really good at navigating end-of-life care,\u201d she said. \u201cTo hear about how peaceful it was, was such a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Closure<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Shorty\u2019s family appeared with gifts at the PCU, months after his passing, Spawn said it was good to see them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou like that closure,\u201d he said. \u201cSeeing them smiling, seeing them honoring his birth story, that was their way of saying, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re doing OK, and you guys contributed to how smooth everything was at the end.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The gratitude was especially meaningful because of how much Toon had been at Shorty\u2019s bedside, advocating for his well-being. Too often, he said, patients pass without anyone close to them in the room. Those cases can weigh heavily on the care teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost over-said that nursing is a work of heart,\u201d Spawn said. \u201cIt sometimes is misconceived that all nurses are superhuman when it comes to caring, like you just have an infinite level of care. Maybe this contradicts that \u2014 but a lot of nurses do struggle really hard with the balance between caring too much and caring too little.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel lucky that with Shorty, I was able to find that happy balance. When he passed, I was grateful that he was able to have his loved ones there.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The visual companion to our 2026 Nursing Year in Review showcases the print edition\u2019s visual storytelling with connections to all of the articles.<\/em><\/p>\n

EXPLORE THE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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