Today has been a huge
day of reflection. I wanted to drop off a treat for Pat (my hero, the man who
saved my life on 11/14/2007) on the six year anniversary of a motor vehicle
accident that I was in. I planned ahead and bought him a Hickory Farms sausage/cheese/cracker
package and a Ferrero Rocher chocolate package with white/milk/dark
hazelnut chocolate deliciousness. All with a really sweet, simple, card.
When he met me at the front door of the Fire Station he said,
"Those big blue eyes, I would recognize those big blue eyes
anywhere!" He introduced me to some of his fellow crew members before we
went and sat down in his office. He proceeded to tell me his story, that of which I have never heard. He said, “I have
a few things to talk to you about.” As I began to shake, and feel tears form, I
had the largest smile I have had in a really long time. He proceeded to look at
me, and as I looked in his own bright blue eyes I knew his soul. I knew that we were meant to meet. I knew that he
was meant to help save me.
He told me that he was so pissed off, because the DMV moved
locations, and he needed to do his yearly registration on his truck. He
could see the aftermath of some sort of accident, and he told himself that
'this couldn't be happening'. He told me that there must have been a lot that
he was supposed to do that day, though he couldn't recall what. He pulled over,
and was assessing the situation when a lady came up and said that she was a
nurse. He said that he could see B and J in the front seat, and that they were
breathing, when a guy called him over and said there is someone in the
backseat. Pat said that he jumped on the trunk as both doors were jammed, as he
couldn't get them to open. He then called two guys over and said, ‘look, I need
your help! This girl doesn't appear to be breathing. You both need to pull on
that door, but don't hurt yourself.' The first pull,
nothing. The second pull, the door unjammed. Pat told me
that earlier today (11/14/13) he went to a scene of an accident and that they
couldn't even get the Jaws of Life to get this guy out, and unfortunately his
story doesn't have the same happy ending. He said that the car I was in was
worse than this guy’s vehicle, and the door just unjammed. He paused; he said
'that is just amazing' then preceded. He told me that when he finally got in
the car I wasn't breathing, he took his knife out (mind you he is off duty as a
paramedic, and doesn't have his gear with him) and was getting ready to do
a tracheotomy on me with this knife, when someone said, "wait,
the seat belt it is all twisted around her." He couldn't see the seat belt
as I was laying on it. He said he cut off the seat belt and thanked God he
didn't have to do a tracheotomy with his pocket knife. He said that he then
took the vomit out of my mouth, and my eyes opened, and "those blue eyes,
those beautiful bright blue eyes stared at me." He said it felt like
thirty minutes to get the choppers in the area, even though it had been maybe
six minutes. He said, "Then you were in the chopper, and they weren't
leaving and I was pacing back and forth, worried." He said he later found
out that the computers were down at the new IMC in Murray, and that is why it
took so long.
On
another note, think about how everything works together, like a well oiled
machine. If the DMV hadn't moved locations . . . I wouldn't be here. If he the
door wouldn't have opened . . . I wouldn't be here. If IMC's computers had been
up I wouldn't have gotten the best care. If I wouldn't have gone to the U, I
wouldn't be here to tell my story.
The best part of tonight
was when he said, "Your outlook on life is special, young lady. You don't
see this as the end of the road. You didn't see it as a woe is me; you saw it
as well, and look what I can do! Not look at what I cannot do. Amazing! Look at
what you're doing for others. Most people wouldn't have done half of what you
have done, including being able to walk, talk, and graduate."
He then walked me out to my
car, hugged me and said he couldn't wait for his kids to meet me. He said,
'forgive me for not knowing today was the anniversary, it's not that I don't
remember you, or think about you often. He said, on my hardest days, when
things don't go the way I would have wanted them to go, I remember that car
door, and I remember those big blue eyes. I remember that it is out of my
control, that I CAN do my job, that I KNOW my job, that I am proficient.'
I can now see why he didn't consider him my hero, what an incredible, humble,
amazing, man.
Everything happens for a
reason. Smile, because it's only temporary :)
xo,
Kas
