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Healthy You Archives |
Caring for Mind and Body
The Hands of a HeroThe courageous deeds of local people define the true meaning of heroism The hands of Robert Keith held his three children close as he once again enjoyed the familiarity of his Nazareth home. “I felt it was necessary,” the 38-year-old says of his decision last year to leave his children and pregnant wife to volunteer as a hospital corpsman in Afghanistan.A 14-year member of the Naval Marine Corps, Robert took on a mission of caring for injured soldiers and improving the health of the Afghani people. Though he wasn’t on the front lines, he saw the effects of battle in the soldiers he treated. “They put themselves at risk more than I did,” he says. “I was just making sure they stayed alive.” Robert, a physical therapy assistant studying to be a nurse, did save lives—from soldiers with shrapnel wounds to a 7-year-old Afghani girl who had swallowed opium. He returned home nine days after his daughter Paige was born. (Robert is shown here with his wife, Jodi, daughters Laura, 16, and baby Paige, and sons Brennan, 2, and Cain, 12.) Cain thinks his father is a hero, but Dad disagrees. “The guys who’ve died and the wives and kids who sit at home and wait for their husbands and fathers, they’re the heroes,” he says. Let’s agree that a hero is someone who risks his or her life for the sake of others—but the question of why is not so simple. “One person may volunteer to be a fireman because he’s a risk taker, while someone else volunteers because he enjoys helping people,” says psychiatrist Laurence Karper, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “Both perform heroic acts, although they do it for different reasons.” While emergency and military personnel choose to put themselves in harm’s way, most people would rather avoid dangerous situations. “That doesn’t mean you can’t perform a heroic act,” Karper says. “Heroism can happen in a moment, when an ordinary person responds instinctively to a crisis and does extraordinary things.” One clue to true heroism is shared by the people featured here: None of them is interested in glory. In fact, they’re more inclined to deny they did anything special. The hands of Juan Carrasco were clasped in prayer, thanking God for putting him to the test. “There’s a reason I was there,” Carrasco says of a day he spent fishing at Jordan Creek. An 11-year old boy jumped into a deep area of the waterway and began to struggle. He yelled for help, and Carrasco jumped in without hesitation. The 35-year-old Allentown man had been a high school swimmer. He grabbed the boy with one arm and tried to swim to shore, but the current was too strong. Carrasco then tried to throw the boy to safety, but the current pulled them back. He kept the boy’s head above water only to go under himself, taking in mouthfuls of creek water. “I thought I might die, and I asked for God’s forgiveness,” he says. Luckily, a stranger arrived and pulled both swimmers to safety. Carrasco was treated for swollen lungs at Lehigh Valley Hospital. Although he never learned the boy’s name, he remembers meeting him bedside that afternoon. “All he said was ‘thank you,’ and that was enough,” Carrasco says. Allentown Mayor Roy Afflerbach honored Carrasco with an award, but he doesn’t want to be labeled a hero. “I was put to the test,” Carrasco says. “Mission accomplished.” The Latest HeroesOnce you’re a hero, it seems, you’re always a hero. Bruce Bray packed his bags and headed south in September to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. To the volunteers rebuilding the Gulf Coast and the men and women serving our country all over the world today…Thank You.Bray arrived to find Connie Snyder lying unconscious on the floor of her office. The 50-year-old woman’s heart had stopped beating. Bray administered a shock from a defibrillator and felt a pulse—but on the way to the hospital, Snyder arrested two more times. Her condition was critical. “Even though the statistics weren’t good, I gave it my all,” Bray says. Working quickly, he again used the defibrillator and more medication to keep Snyder alive. In the Lehigh Valley Hospital emergency department, her heart would stop again twice before her condition stabilized. After receiving an implantable defibrillator, Snyder recovered, and now—eight years later—she feels great. Bray and his paramedic team are her heroes. “They kept me alive,” she says. “They never left me.” During the 50 years Cetronia Ambulance has been serving the com-munity, the paramedics have received a number of “thank you” cards, but Snyder’s is special to Bray. It reads, “I pray I am worthy of this special gift you have given me.” “I’m walking on a cloud,” Bray said after reading that. “It makes me realize I’m meant to do what I’m doing.” This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
ARTICLE TOOLS:
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 November December 2005 Eating Healthy
Staying Fit
Caring for Mind and Body
Just for Women
Just for Men
Raising a Family
Heart of Healthy You
Protecting Your Health
Coping with Illness
Aging Well
Keeping Up to Date
Weight Control
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