I WAS NO ANGEL...

of mercy.  When I think back to what happened this morning, it is with a sense of shame and utter helplessness.

I was running five minutes later than usual, on my way to school this morning. As I cruised toward the stop near my home, I saw a van parked in the far lane on Riverside Drive, not off to the side, but still ON the road, which I found odd. When I got to the stop, I saw why. Across the road, a woman had fallen on the ground. She was having convulsions. I crossed over, parked and rushed over to her, where the driver of the van had knelt.  He pulled out his cell phone and was calling 911.

I ran back to my car to get a blanket, gingerly laid it over her, and put what I hoped was a comforting hand on her back. ALL my Red Cross First Aid training DISAPPEARED!!! I reacted instinctively, to comfort her in the only way I knew how. When I pulled back her long hair from her face, I recognized her immediately.  I see her EVERY morning at that intersection, waiting for the school bus with her two children.  I sent a silent pray of thanks that the bus had already picked up her children, and that they had been spared seeing their mother in SUCH distress. 

Her face was cut and bleeding. She was still having convulsions. The 911 operator asked the young man all kinds of questions, to which he had no answer.  He had seen her drop to the ground and had stopped immediately.  I supplied what I knew about her.  He hung up and we seemed to wait forever for an ambulance. She eventually stopped convulsing, and was now moaning and slowly regaining consciousness. We finally heard sirens.  A young police officer pulled up behind me, and quickly joined us.  I gave the information I had, knowing the house she lived in was on the opposite corner, as I had often seen her there outside.  I left, as she was giving her name to the police officer. There was nothing more I could do. NOT that I even did anything.

When I got to work, I felt sick. I sat, put my head between my legs, and tried to compose myself, telling the secretary what happened. I felt SO, SO helpless. I couldn't have done a thing to save that woman, if HER life had depended on it. I can't bear to think that she is anything but alright.  I won't know until Monday, whether she is, when I look for her at the bus stop.  

We OWE so much to all our first responders out there. We have NO IDEA of the traumatic scenes they bare witness to, nor the images that remain forever etched in their minds.

I will NEVER forget this morning. True, I don't face these type of incidences every day, but that doesn't diminish the extraordinary work of those who DO witness these sometimes horrific accidents in life, on a regular basis. Take time to thank, if only in your heart, all paramedics, police officers, fire fighters, doctors, and nurses who EVERY day, come to the aid of fellow human beings who are in danger, are vulnerable, and need help. 

THEY are our t*r*u*e heroes.  NOT hockey players, NOR baseball players, NOR actors, NOR musicians. THESE first responders are the heroes who walk amongst us, unheard, unsung and often unappreciated.