YOU CAN TELL A LOT ABOUT PEOPLE

Yesterday I shared how a man in our group suffered a heart attack on the second night of our cruise tour. The hero in this story was a young man from Australia that just completed a CPR course and sprang into action. Yes, he saved the person life. He persisted in applying CPR even when there was no heartbeat, until several doctors and a medical team arrived and took over. His persistence saved this man’s life. A side note to this story, the person had a quadruple by-pass several days ago in an Anchorage hospital and is doing well.

My blog today is about the character of the young man who sprang into action. He was in the restaurant a few tables away from where the heart attack took place. He was accompanied by his wife and three young children, ages 4, 7, and 10.

I judged his character not just by his action, but by the observation of his family. As soon as the stroke occurred, the ten year old stood up, folded his hands and started praying; if I remember correctly, he even suggested that we all start praying with him.

The ordeal in the Restaurant lasted well over an hour until the ambulance crew was finally able to stabilize the victim and transport him to a hospital. During this entire time, all three children were crying and praying, they did not want to leave the room.

I had an opportunity to see the family and spoke to the ten year old; I thanked him for his prayers and assured him that his prayers went a long way in saving the man.

I got the e-mail address of this remarkable young father and plan to stay in touch with him. Whatever career plans he has in the future, I am sure that he will succeed. His family is a testimonial to his beliefs and values.

I saw him several more times during our cruise and his concern was always about how the man was doing. He asked for no credit for his good deed but was glad to be able to help.

I hope that my actions, those of my family and my fellow workers in our company can, if called upon,  measure up to those of this young man and his family.

Don’t count the days; make the days count.  Muhammad Ali