We All Need Another Hero

How would you react in an emergency? I know that I don’t have whatever it takes to be a “hero.” Any time I get frightened or excited, you could put my brain in a bluejay and it would fly backwards. That’s why real heroes like Mike Schmidt amaze me.

Last year, he decided to go fishing with one of his buddies and that man’s son. It was a peaceful nighttime trip out to Lake Lewisville to fish off of the dock. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., all heck broke loose. Schmidt and his friends heard what sounded like an explosion.

It was a vehicle plunging into the water. It seems that a young woman had left her place of employment heading for home, texting on her cell phone in the dark. She took a terribly wrong turn onto a platform and into the lake.

What would you have done at that moment? I would have grabbed my cellphone and started shrieking, “Somebody tell me the number for 911!!”

Not Mike Schmidt.

Seeing the headlights of the sinking vehicle, Mike Schmidt didn’t hesitate to jump into the water. He swam to the Jeep, hopped on the hood, and rode it until that vehicle came to rest on the bottom of the lake (twenty-five feet below).

Though the water was dark, he could see the woman inside trying to kick out the window with her bare feet. He knew that he had to wait until the pressure equalized inside and outside of the car to be able to open the door. It must have been agonizing (and he still hadn’t gone to the surface for a breath of water!).

When Schmidt could finally open the door, he snatched her out of the car and pulled her to the surface where his friends were waiting to relieve him. Fortunately, the only casualty was the Jeep.

Now, it wasn’t a detriment that Mike Schmidt is a Denton, Texas firefighter when he is at work. He knows how to think clearly in an emergency. But, even his boss said that this would have been a difficult and dangerous rescue for a fireman who was “on-duty.” Mike Schmidt took chances that a civilian did not have to take.

He did it, because that’s just the kind of man he is. He is hero material. In fact, because he was off duty (a “civilian”) when the accident occurred, he will receive a Carnegie Hero Medal for extraordinary heroism. Do you know about this award? According to the Carnegie Hero website, “The candidate for an award must be a civilian who voluntarily risks his or her life to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person. The rescuer must have no full measure of responsibility for the safety of the victim..”

Mike Schmidt could have stood on the dock and called 911 (I bet he would have remembered the number). He could have just waited for rescue vehicles to arrive to save the young woman. He did not know her, did not have to risk his life for her, and he had no responsibility for her — except that she was another human being. He reacted without even considering his own life.

Mr. Schmidt takes it all in stride. He just figures that he was in the right place at the right time. That humility is just another mark of a “hero,” don’t y’all think?

I read his story in the Denton Record Chronicle last week and decided that Mike Schmidt was the “good” I have to share with you on this Only The Good Friday. We ALL need another hero.

Y’all can leave a comment telling me what is good with you or go write a post and join these other fine bloggers in spreading an optimism virus on the internet. If you write a post, come back and tell me so I can add your name to the list.

RV Poetry; Candid Karina; All My Great, or Not So Great Adventures; Inside Mo’s Mind; Thorne’s World; Down River Drivel; Duward Discussion; Ramblings of an Unstable Mind; Insightful Nana; Newbie Lifeline; Everyday Tarot; West of Mars; Life’s Journey; Round Circle; Barbara’s Travels; Blog of Revelation; Desert Diva; Blogjem

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1. Her Favorite Flower
2. Aww, Delbert, Say It Ain’t So
3. Only The Good Friday
4. Up In Smoke

Tagged as: Denton, Only The Good Friday