Friday, December 25, 2020
When I was 7 years old, I fell off my bicycle and hurt my arm. I didn’t think it was broken, because as a seven year old, I probably associated a broken arm with lots of pain and tears. My dad knew something was wrong with my arm because I couldn’t move it correctly, so he walked me down a few houses so Marc could look at it. Marc wasn’t a doctor, but he had an engineer’s mind. He immediately saw my arm and told my dad that it was broken and that I should go the the ER. At the time, it seemed impossible to me that it was broken, but Marc went ahead and created a splint for my arm to rest. My dad then took me to hospital and sure enough, Marc was right. The doctor needed an x-Ray to identify the break, but Marc knew all along. The important part of this story is not that Marc diagnosed a broken arm, but the care that he took to make sure I was ok and his quick thinking, creativeness and compassion to understand the trauma I was experiencing and reassurance that I was going to be fine.
This was probably an insignificant event in Marc’s life, but for me, his compassion and care for those few minutes have stayed with me for a lifetime. Life is full of moments that are quickly forgotten. This moment, for me was not forgotten. It was a moment that was imprinted in my soul and will never be forgotten. May we all help others with such care and compassion.
