Short Stories

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The blades turned making a noise with the rhythmic consistency that only comes from a helicopter. This is no ordinary helicopter though. This one is a Care Flight helicopter! It has parked in the most unusual of places and the engine has been kept running while the passenger is readied for the flight.

This January day was not like most. A southerly wind had raised the temperature and a new record high of 80 degrees was expected. After school that day many of the neighborhood children came out to play in shorts. As a matter of fact, there was more activity going on then had been seen since the previous September. However, the activity that was going on was only a fraction of what lie ahead.

I was the patient that was being readied for transport and at the moment I was pretty shaken up with the notion that what had happened was so severe that the Care Flight helicopter had to be called to transport me to a trauma center. The helicopter landed in the cul-de-sac in the middle of our community. Everyone who was home came out to see what was happening. Most were drawn out by the sight and sound of the helicopter hovering over the houses looking for a place to land. If spite of the fact that this was an emergency, you can imagine the intrigue and amazement that a helicopter landing in your neighborhood would bring.

So what could have happened on this wonderfully warm winter day, in this peaceful community amongst all the children playing? Nothing very dramatic. As a matter of fact the simplicity of the accident is startling as well as the speed in which it occurred. There is no high speed chase, no falling from a roof top or off of ladder. There are no bad guys or weapons. There is simply a 2 wheeled bicycle and a forward flip. That’s right, I flipped the bike and landed on my head.

The time duration of the fall was just a fraction of a second. So fast in fact that I didn’t even have time to remove my hands from the handle bars. The flip and the speed in which it occurred left the one part of my body least able to sustain the impact vulnerable and heading for the cement. My head! One minute I’m riding the bike and less then a second latter I’m laying on the cement. Within seconds a neighbor, who is a nurse, is by my side and beginning to administer first aid. She crouches next to me and whispers a prayer. I hear parents yelling for their children to move away and another neighbor calling for an ambulance. The activity on the street has just taken a dramatic turn.

Within minutes one ambulance, one fire truck, and two police cars invade the neighborhood. A squeamish buzz cloaks the bystanders. As my ability to focus fades, I sense how the day has changed. I struggle to respond to the inquiry of the paramedics. I am subject to their demands and can offer no resistance to the restraints which I now find myself in. I know I am hurt pretty severely. There is no doubt that I will not be shaking this one off. I am prepared, no, I am ready to go to the hospital for healing.

Suddenly another change takes place. The energy of the paramedics has increased, yet somehow, I feel more detached. I hear the sounds but don’t make the connection on my own. The helicopter is here to escort me to a trauma center. I am told by the paramedic that I will be taken by Care Flight to the trauma center. I call out to my wife. I need her by my side. I need my bible.

The helicopter leaves the cul-de-sac and I am the passenger. I am the reason the day has been interrupted for so many. Some are terrified, namely, my wife and son. Some are afraid, some sickened, some worried, many are just curious.

Talk about the accident has diminished considerably. Every now and then someone will ask how I am doing. I am doing quite well actually. The stitches are out and the scar is pretty large. It goes from just above the left eye brow to the crown of my head. It then turns at nearly a right angle and stops just above the left ear.

As I reflect back to shortly after the helicopter taking off, I can imagine the people dispersing. Some leave right away, others lingered and talked to each other for a few minutes. A few more leave after the policemen and paramedics depart. A few more linger awhile but eventually everyone was in their homes or on to wherever they were going.

I find myself peculiarly uneasy by the number of people whose lives were momentarily interrupted by this accident, especially the bystanders, the onlookers, the ones who came from blocks away because of the helicopter. Many didn’t know me and they still don’t. I am certain that many came because of an innate concern we each have for human kind. We hurt for a moment when we see someone else hurt. However, life must move on. Some move on quickly, others will linger awhile, but most certainly, some will forget the event completely and others will only mention it in passing in the years to come. Even I will find there will come a time when I realize that a long time has passed and I had not had a thought of the accident.

However, this was an event in people’s lives that caused them to momentarily change the course of their lives away from the routine of the ordinary and to gather around and watch a spectacular event unfold before them. So tempting was the influence of the event that they deliberately set aside the things they were doing to come “see” yet they will forget the event in a matter of time.

Yet what was really the most spectacular of all many could not see. I wish I could show it to every one of them. They didn’t see the angles that were sent to protect me. They didn’t see the hand of God protecting my head as I was careening for the concrete. They didn’t see God protecting my brain from permanent injury. They didn’t see the Holy Spirit guiding me to minister to the surgeons and nurses. They haven’t seen the Holy Spirit tugging on their heart as I visit them and they are amazed at the remarkable recovery. Of all the spectacular and amazing things that day, the most powerful, most precious is the gift of life and the ministering opportunities it provides to me. So for many of them, they haven’t seen anything yet.

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