My Father, The Hero

My dad has always been a hero to me, just being dad. But he also is the kind of guy that does not shy away from helping others, regardless of the situation. I recall once when I was about 10 there was a house across the street from us that a divorced mother of three lived. She had two girls my age and a son that was about 4. One afternoon the mother came running out of the house screaming in terror. Something was wrong with her son, she had him in her arms and he was like a rag doll. My dad, who worked 2nd shift at the time was in bed, and mother woke him up to see if he could do something. He ran across the street, in his underwear no less, and saved the boys life. I was told later that the boy apparently had an epileptic seizure and his tongue had rolled back cutting off his air. My father reached into the boys mouth and held something onto his tongue until the boy regained air passage. The mother of course was extremely grateful and kissed my dad on the cheek. Then dad came home and sat on the couch afterwards trembling.

About three years later at a family outing, my cousin slipped in a creek we were playing in and hit his head, knocking him out with his face head first into the water. We were in about waist high water and I tried to pull him out but was unable to. Dad seeing the situation from the bank ran into the water, pulled my cousin out and began mouth to mouth, quickly reviving him. After we all calmed down, dad went over under a tree and began to shake and even tear up.

Well Monday Dad did it again.

He bowls three or four times a week with a senior league (he actually just bowled a 300 a few weeks ago, at 67 that's DAMN good) after their bowling they all decided to go out for lunch together. Most of the men he bowls with are his age and older and attend the same church. One of the men he was eating with began choking, and finally passed out. A bean had lodged in his windpipe. Dad sprang into action. He quickly acted, performing the Heimlich, dislodging not only the bean but the man's false teeth. He said that he knew what to do and acted without even thinking, but then afterwards he went out to his car and began shaking. The man's wife called dad later in the day thanking him for saving her husband's life.

So when I say that my dad is a hero, he really is. Not just to me and my brothers but to at least three other family's that know first hand.