Jim Rice, a baseball player for the Boston Red Sox, saved a boy’s life with his quick actions on August 7,1982. The photo on the Boston.com page (link below) is incredibly touching and the story makes you marvel at Rice’s kindness and immediate actions that made all the difference. (The quick story is that a young boy got hit by a ball and Rice immediately ran into the stands, picked up the boy, carried him to the dugout and they worked on him quickly, likely saving his life.) Rice paid the family’s hospital bill and it wasn’t even his ball that hit the kid. This follow-up story was written almost three years ago and you can read it at this link: 40 Years Later, a Look Back at the Day Jim Rice Saved a Boy’s life at Fenway Park.
That got me thinking about people who just have that kind of heart. People who run to car crashes instead of away. I even witnessed a lifesaving. Not quite as dramatic as that one, and it got absolutely no press because it was at some chain restaurant, I don’t even remember. I was sitting there with my two besties, Carolyn and Dawn when Carolyn, who worked in restaurant training and management for years, noticed a boy choking. His family was hitting him on the back, but it wasn’t working. Not thinking for a second, Carolyn got up, strode over to the table, pulled the kid out of the booth while his stunned parents watched, gave him a couple of Heimlich thrusts and he promptly vomited all over Carolyn’s arm. That’s gratitude in the world of Heimlich. .
It happened within seconds. The kid looked shocked but was fine. The parents were very thankful and Carolyn came back, wiped the vomit off her arm, and sat down as if it was no big deal. Dawn and I sat there almost speechless. I’m sure our first astonished words were, “Holy shit!” (Clearly, not quite speechless.) Carolyn explained that knowing how to save someone who’s choking was part of her training.
Yeah, that was true, but that immediate impulse to go in, take action, and save someone, that’s something that comes from deep inside. Carolyn’s mom was that way too, a total giver. And, clearly, Jim Rice learned kindness and caring from his parents as he was growing up. It takes quick thinking, some knowledge and the kindest of hearts.
Today I’m saluting all those kind-hearted people who, without thinking, run to cars after crashes to help the injured, or go into burning buildings to save someone, or carry an injured kid from the stands as if he was yours, or Heimlich a complete stranger’s child in a restaurant and get vomited on. You don’t do it for the glory, you do it because helping people is the right thing to do.
This includes you EMT’s, firefighters, nurses, and doctors who do this as a job! It also includes my brother’s friend John, who kept up the chest compressions on my brother who passed out on a golf course. You saved his life! You are incredibly special people and although the quick actions of many of you may never be formally recognized, I’m doing it now. Thank you! The world is a much better place with you in it. Thank you for setting the bar exactly where it should be. We all need to remember that in times like this when so much anger is around us.
If you know a few saviors, feel free to forward this to them.
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