Hero

This morning after dropping Eva off at school I came to an intersection where traffic had stopped and a body lay sprawled over the tarmac, missing a shoe. It is always the shoeless feet that haunt one when confronted with such a scene. 

Unfortunately the traffic light went red as I passed by the scene so I was forced to be stationary next to all the commotion. It is moments like these where one is helplessly forced to witness a horrific scene where one can do the most powerful, invisible thing one can do - we can pray. 

The person was immobile and lying on their stomach. Someone had put a bag under their head to keep it from lying on the hard road. The usual throng of gawking bystanders were there but also present were the subject of this post - the medics. 

It was only when a medic went to kneel next to the person and gently patted their back and leant down to speak to them that I realised that the person was still alive. While the rest of the world hung in suspended motion around this person the people trained to do their jobs were doing their jobs. A stretcher was then brought from one of the ambulances and my traffic light turned green. 

I don’t know what is going to happen to this person, the man with one secret sock lying prostrate in the middle of a road. I pray that he will be ok. 

What I do know is that every day very special people perform a service to humanity in dealing with the situations that leave the rest of us paralysed. I don’t know what kind of a psyche one must have to deal with this constant exposure to trauma but I know I don’t have it. 

So today I would like to honour the heroes of the world. The ones who are prepared to see and deal with the unspeakable, who will gently pat a back and say that everything is going to be ok. The people who are often the ones to witness the moments where everything is far from ok. I honour the families of these people who often have to be the soft landing after a heinous day. Thank you to the partners who have to help their loved ones process their incredibly difficult jobs. 

This job must certainly be a calling and I thank God that people respond to the call. So here’s to the people who pick up the discarded shoes, who fight for the people we love when we can’t, who remind us that real heroes don’t wear capes.