An incident yesterday in Paris where a young man saved a child dangling from the fourth floor of an apartment building has sparked some interesting discussion about saving lives and I thought it was a discussion worth exploring.
A host on CBC was asking if anyone has saved your life and when I first thought about it my answer was no but then I remembered my husband coming into the bedroom on December 28 of 1983 saying, “You have to get up. The house is on fire. ”
Several moments of terror ensued after those words hit my sleepy brain but we managed to get ourselves and all three children, the youngest of whom was 3 weeks old, safely out of the house. Bare feet into almost a foot of fresh snow we were left without a home that night, but we were never without shelter other basic needs. It was a miracle but thanks Donn for waking up and for waking me and for getting us all out of the house.
When the question about anyone having saved your life was posed on the radio I thought about an old custom I had heard about years ago. The story was that when you save someone’s life you are responsible for their lives from that moment on. I tried to find the foundation for that and it seems it likely from the movies not reality. (Custom re saving a life).
During wars and natural disasters life saving measures happen often and it always warms our hearts to hear the stories. Among my favourites it the story of Schindler’s List but I dare say there are not too many great books or movies which don’t have some element of life saving in them. Even Dicken’s A Christmas Carol has that element with Scrooge’s action saving the life of Tiny Tim.
Hat’s off the professions devoted to saving lives. First responders, Coast Guard, the military, police and the medical profession spend their lives trying to save ours. They deserve a lot more credit than they get. Their reward is often overwork and PTSD. They are on the front line of horror and that is worth more than we could possibly afford to pay them.
Tonight, as you lay your head on your pillow whisper a little prayer of thanks for those who may have reached out to save your life and for those who work risk their own life and health with selfless acts of bravery to save the lives of others.
Spilt Milk 