On a leadership trip to South Carolina, we had the opportunity to visit a couple of school districts that were doing some really amazing things. One of the most amazing things to me was the chair that I stumbled upon in the band hall.
Long story short, I wasn’t able to find a way to fit this in my carry-on or checked baggage to get it back to my office. I think it would have been a perfect office chair for me!
If you asked my kids, they would tell you that “Dad” is like Superman. He is tough even when he bleeds, he can do anything, and he never gets sick or hurts. Well I don’t want to sway their opinion at all, but recently SuperDad had an adventurous weekend that landed him in the hospital for three days and ended with a bang…well…actually a shock.
After a Friday evening without the ability to hold down any food (sorry I am painting a picture here), I retired early to the bed to rest up for a fun Saturday full of pulling kids around our lake on a tube with a jet ski. That lasted about 2-3 runs before I had to give the keys to the neighbor as once again I was unable to hold down anything and felt like I couldn’t walk 100 yards without being completely winded.
Fast forward to Sunday morning, the issues continued. Without any regard for my best pleading, my wife decided (for me) that I was heading to the ER. Ten minutes into the trip, I was hooked to an EKG machine that took the nurse all of 30 seconds to tell me that I was in AFIB. HUH?!?!? I don’t even know what that is.
After multiple draws of blood, heart monitoring and even a stress test (I killed that!) over the course of 3 days, I was wheeled into a special room and hooked to all kinds of fun sticky things that my wife enjoyed ripping off of me later on. Just before this really long camera was shoved down my throat, I was out from the anesthesia (Thank Goodness). Doctors then proceeded to check for any blocks and then “CLEAR” shocked my heart back into rhythm with the paddles.
And if that wasn’t enough of a 3-day experience, during the first evening a tornado was on the ground near my house with my kids home waiting on my parents who couldn’t get there because of the tornado. The house 5 down from me was in flames due to a lightning strike (it didn’t make it), and the fire department couldn’t get there quickly because of…you guessed it…the tornado. So I sat on the bed and talked with my kiddos through FaceTime as they huddled under the stairway. At one point, I even offered to switch places with my wife (hospital bed for chair) who was in the room with me completely freaking out! I didn’t want her to have a heart attack.
On November 19, 2016, I was making a lunch run to meet a friend of mine for some tacos. It was just like any other day except that I was pretty excited about these tacos!
As I pulled out of the parking lot from work, I started up an overpass in the left-hand lane and noticed a police cruiser with flashing lights in the right lane stopped. I pulled up beside the cruiser and saw the officer standing in front of his car talking to a man who was sitting on the rail at the top of the overpass above a very busy I-30.
I stopped in the left lane to prevent traffic coming through since it was obvious the officer was trying to talk to the man who was contemplating a jump. In a bit of disbelief, I glanced back and forth at the man and the officer as their conversation continued. And then it happened…
During a look back at the officer, I saw him immediately take off in a dead sprint towards the man who upon further review was no longer sitting on the overpass. All I could see where two hands holding on as he dangled above the busy interstate.
Without hesitation, I took off running from my vehicle towards the incident and grabbed the man’s right arm as the officer took hold of his left arm. It seemed like an eternity as we pulled and pulled while the man pleaded for help in terror. I won’t ever forget the fear in his eyes as the cars rushed by 20-30 feet below him.
On December 14, 2016, I was honored by the White Settlement Police Department with the Police Life Saving Award for “extraordinary effort in assisting and helping an Officer save a victim’s life.” I haven’t heard how the man is doing, and I will likely never cross paths with him again. I am just proud to know that I was able to react without hesitation in that situation, and that gentleman is able to hopefully get things turned around.
