heroes: Everyday Hero
Random acts of kindness
It is very rare when someone does something for someone without any expectation, reward, or recognition…when a person is so humble that he/she does not view or believe that ‘doing the right thing’ warrants or calls for anything more than a thank you. Nevertheless, when you find yourself on the receiving end of this random act of kindness, from a virtual stranger, one cannot help but be moved.
On August 4, 2011 my 15-year-old son, Scott crashed and rolled a quad and suffered a severe injury. He was bleeding profusely from a hole in his right thigh, exposing muscles and veins, and just above the hole was a large hematoma. He tried waving down someone for help, several people saw him but kept going, save one, the UPS guy, Chris. Chris was not even aware Scott was hurt, he just saw him waving and stopped to see what he could do. It was only when Scott turned around that Chris realized Scott was injured and in dire need of an ambulance. Without so much as a second thought, already running late on his shift, he put my son into his truck and rushed him home to me. Where I immediately called 911.
Scott was brought into the trauma center and taken into surgery, where the once softball sized hematoma was now volleyball size. They opened up the leg, removed a liter of blood, and closed off the vein that was causing him to bleed internally. The doctor said he just missed his main artery.
It was nearly 10p.m. when they brought my son to his hospital room, and we were just settling in, when in walked Chris. He had just finished his deliveries and wanted to come see if there was anything more he could do and to make sure Scott and I were okay. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but I already thought this guy was my hero for what he had done for my son, but to show up at the hospital…I have to tell you, I wanted, wished, there was something I could say or do that could express just how grateful and thankful we were for what he had done. However, the truth is, I can never repay him for what he did.
As a single mother of two teenage boys, I am no stranger to injuries or accidents, but this was the first (hopefully last) time I had to have one of my boys undergo surgery or be admitted to the hospital. Something I pray no parent has to endure, experience, or go through. It doesn’t matter what the reason or purpose is, there is something so fundamentally wrong with seeing your child so vulnerable and or in pain that makes you feel so incredibly helpless and so inept. But when someone , anyone, does something so amazingly unselfish and incredibly thoughtful and kind, one cannot help but thank God for ‘everyday heroes.’
When I think of my son, alone, bleeding, scared, injured, on the side of the road, I can scarcely contain myself, and when I imagine what could have or might have happened had Chris not stopped to help him, or had the accident been worse…well, let’s just say, I am very thankful and feel incredibly blessed for how well things turned out.
It was the most generous, thoughtful, loving, and compassionate act, of human kindness I have experienced in a very long time…I have heard the UPS slogan “Brown delivers”, and in this case, Brown really did! Thus, while I may never be able to convey, repay, or thank Chris, the UPS guy, in a manner befitting a hero, I will be eternally grateful for him for restoring in me the belief that humanity is alive and well, and so is my son. Chris may not feel like a hero or think that what he did was heroic, but in my eyes, in my heart, he is and I will forever be in his debt.
