June 1, 2011 9:05 AM
We believe in miracles - and CPR
My latest column at Catholic Herald:
We believe in miracles -- and CPR
Barbara Curtis
6/1/11
Eleven years ago I nearly lost a son.I was finishing up errands when my cellphone rang. My home number, but a voice I didn't know -- calm, insistent, pressing words into reality. My 5-year-old son Jesse in trouble. A near-drowning. Helicopter on its way. No time for me to get there. Call back in five minutes to find out which hospital.
I hung up, not quite breathing, dialed my husband's cellphone.
"Barbara, what's happening? There's a helicopter over our house!" Tripp was pulling into our driveway. Thank God one of us was there.
"It's Jesse! Hurry -- and call me back!"
Then I was alone with all the questions: "How had this happened? Had someone forgotten to lock the gate to the pool?"
Would he live? Jesse's sweet smile, almond eyes and silky brown skin seemed suddenly more real, more necessary than the sidewalk under my feet. The EMT had said something about brain damage. Oh, woe if Jesse -- already challenged with Down syndrome -- should have to work harder than he already did.
Tripp had a better perspective: "Thank God He's alive," he said when he called back.
Jesse was already whirring above the San Francisco Bay to Children's Hospital in Oakland. With no traffic, it would take me an hour. Time to reassure my kids via cellphone and to hear the whole story.
Read the rest at Catholic Herald.
Posted in Family, Safety | Permalink
Comments
Great story. I love the quote on miracles and your line "more necessary than the sidewalk under my feet."
Posted by: Crystal | June 1, 2011 9:30 PM
