A couple of days ago I happened upon a terrible traffic accident on a four-lane highway near my home. Other motorists attended to the injured people lying a few feet from their cars. The accident was in the median of the highway, and traffic was whizzing by on both sides, making it dangerous for all involved.

I moved down roughly fifty feet from the accident, flagged traffic over to the farthest lane, and motioned for drivers to slow down. It was a bitter cold day, and I began praying for the people lying in the median. Traffic was hard to handle: some motorists did not care if there was an accident or not; all they wanted was to get where they were going as quickly as possible.

Then the sounds of sirens came, as personal vehicles with flashing lights attached to the roofs rushed onto the scene. Fire trucks followed, with uniformed men barking orders and scattering to every inch of the scene. Within seconds a small generator emerged while a fireman pulled the string to start it. Another fireman maneuvered the Jaws-Of-Life electric saw to free trapped occupants of one of the cars.

Ambulances and police cars arrived and the scene was soon teeming with capable men and women taking charge and taking orders. Police officers parked distantly at both ends of the scene, with lights flashing to warn drivers to slow down and pay attention to what was ahead. They placed orange cones on the highway to direct traffic to one lane and to keep drivers from getting too close to the scene as they passed.

Although I moved back closer to the scene, I tried to stay out of the way, but I wanted to be near enough in case any of the professionals needed help. As I stood in amazement watching these heroic men and women, I heard them talking to the victims. I would later learn that accident victims can easily go into shock unless treated immediately, if only psychologically.

That’s why one of the volunteer firemen crawled into the car where a woman lay trapped in the back. “I’ll bet you have never had so many men trying to get to you at one time, have you?” He said to the woman. “Why, when that door opens, you’ll have dozens of men reaching for you!” I saw a smile on the woman’s face. A smile! Trapped in a car where half a dozen people worked to get her out, and this woman was smiling!

I think it takes a special person to crawl into a decimated vehicle to calm down a trapped victim. I believe it takes a gifted individual to perform CPR by the side of the road while nearly run over by traffic. It would have to take guts to walk into a burning building to rescue the people trapped inside. This is why I believe that the ability to serve others in a time of crisis, requiring as it does superhuman courage, is a gift from God.

After the accident I spoke of my amazement to each person on the scene. None, however, thought of themselves as special or gifted. In fact, they laughed off the reference of heroism, yet today they are more than heroes to the victims and families whose lives they saved that day.

So to all emergency workers and volunteers, whether working in fire departments, ambulance services or police departments, let me say thank you–thank you for using your divine gift of extraordinary courage and for thus being our heroes during the worst times of our lives.

Mike Collins mikecollinsemail@yahoo.com