WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — In just a few months, Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge will move a few miles down the road and reopen as the new Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital.
Greeting those coming into the new building will sit a sculpture created by a man whose life was saved by those at Lutheran 20 years earlier. He's now hopeful his sculpture will help spark joy for others at the hospital.
Behind Diane and Kevin Robb's Wheat Ridge home, they've created a garden. It's not flowers or fountains but steel and metal bringing it to life.
"But we've made it work, Kevin. We've made it work one way or the other," Diane said.
Their yard houses decades of Kevin's work.
"Kevin has been a sculptor for about 40 years," Diane said.
"Yes," Kevin said in agreement.
But, the artistic road wasn't always one these Boulder High School sweethearts intended to take.
"And we were married for about three years and he came home one day and he said, 'Diane, I can't live without art,'" Diane said. "And I looked at him and said, 'Who is Art?"
The couple's laughter carried them forward as Kevin forged a new path as a sculptor.
"It was January 8, 2004 our life changed," Diane said.
"Yes," Kevin said.
"I found him down in the studio, he had no preexisting conditions at all, nothing that would indicate a problem," Diane said.
At 49 years old, Kevin had a massive stroke. He was taken quickly to Lutheran where he spent 13 days on life support and months after in rehab.
"So our life changed drastically on that day and we didn't know what we had, we didn't know what we were going to do," Diane said.
His right side was left with limited function. Kevin's ability to speak was greatly impacted, his vocabulary is now limited to about 100 words.
"And he is physically challenged," Diane said. "But we discovered he can still create. And if he can create, we can hire men to be his hands and that is what we do."
Through his art work, Kevin's spirit returned.
"It's his heart and it's his soul," Diane said. "It was his art that brought him back to us."
So when the hospital asked if Kevin would create the signature sculpture for the new Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital, Kevin and his team got right to work.
After six months of work, the 17-foot sculpture is nearly complete, ready to be installed in just a few weeks.
It's a piece that celebrates recovery. Twenty years after his stroke, Kevin is ready to celebrate his journey to healing.
“From being at his lowest and being told he wasn’t going to make it to 20 years later, Lutheran Hospital saying, 'Kevin Robb, you did it by golly,'" Diane said. "So it will be very emotional when it's installed and we can step back and look at it.”
“Yes, wow," Kevin said.
They both hope this piece will help spark that same joy for every family leaving the new hospital.
The new Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital opens Aug. 3 at 12911 W. 40th Ave. in Wheat Ridge, the new facility will replace the current Lutheran Medical Center.
The new facility will feature a collection of more than 600 pieces of art, nearly all of which have been created by Colorado artists.
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