Shared Pain, Reluctant Heroes
With a 50 foot extension cord tied to his waist and the other end tied to the back of a truck, Robbie struggled to rappel down a 60+ foot sheer abyss towards the glacial waters of Lake Kachess hidden below the towering alpines, risking his life and his family’s future to rescue a stranger; the father of a teenaged daughter and her mother, whom Robbie, my son, and his wife, Kara, had come across only minutes ago.
I was immediately thrown back to this perilous August 2012 crisis in my kids early married life; pondering how this horrifying event has affected them as I considered what circumstances produce a hero while reading "Of Altruism, Heroism and Nature’s Gifts in the Face of Terror”, a compelling and thought provoking article …show more content…
The shock of everything has begun to take over.”
Rob added, “I forgot this part but the ambulance and police arrived before the guys in the boat. But they wouldn’t come down to help because they were worried the rescuers would become the victim. They wouldn’t send anyone down to help and I remember being furious thinking, ‘hey this guy is dying!’ but I couldn’t shout it up to them because his wife and daughter are up there and I didn’t want them to give up hope. Here I’m a stranger and not trained and I managed to get down to him."
Interestingly enough, Angier's reflections on the selfless acts of the 9-11 firefighters in her article don't sound anything like what Rob and Kara experienced (54). Though I know many amazing firemen and police officers, these rescuers refused to risk themselves. Is that bad? Even though I'm talking about my first-born son here I can understand their thinking as this other man was probably already dead and there were likely alternatives for rescuing Robbie. Though I can completely sympathize with Robbie's no doubt exhausted adrenaline and frustration, as
With a 50 foot extension cord tied to his waist and the other end tied to the back of a truck, Robbie struggled to rappel down a 60+ foot sheer abyss towards the glacial waters of Lake Kachess hidden below the towering alpines, risking his life and his family’s future to rescue a stranger; the father of a teenaged daughter and her mother, whom Robbie, my son, and his wife, Kara, had come across only minutes ago.
I was immediately thrown back to this perilous August 2012 crisis in my kids early married life; pondering how this horrifying event has affected them as I considered what circumstances produce a hero while reading "Of Altruism, Heroism and Nature’s Gifts in the Face of Terror”, a compelling and thought provoking article …show more content…
The shock of everything has begun to take over.”
Rob added, “I forgot this part but the ambulance and police arrived before the guys in the boat. But they wouldn’t come down to help because they were worried the rescuers would become the victim. They wouldn’t send anyone down to help and I remember being furious thinking, ‘hey this guy is dying!’ but I couldn’t shout it up to them because his wife and daughter are up there and I didn’t want them to give up hope. Here I’m a stranger and not trained and I managed to get down to him."
Interestingly enough, Angier's reflections on the selfless acts of the 9-11 firefighters in her article don't sound anything like what Rob and Kara experienced (54). Though I know many amazing firemen and police officers, these rescuers refused to risk themselves. Is that bad? Even though I'm talking about my first-born son here I can understand their thinking as this other man was probably already dead and there were likely alternatives for rescuing Robbie. Though I can completely sympathize with Robbie's no doubt exhausted adrenaline and frustration, as