“WHAT MAKES A HERO?”

Written by Angela Michael

            Is it a badge or a gun? Or a Bible and some pro-life literature? A helmet or a sonogram machine? Any one of these represents someone who tried to save a life. And some were successful as we witnessed on the evening news this past week. There were several televised stories on this subject of heroes and rescuers in what could have been a tragic outcome. Only, the people with the sonogram and the pro-life literature were not viewed by the eyes of our nation as the others, but all saved lives this past week.

            A group of students, construction workers, and passer-bys witnessed a motorcyclist get rammed and pinned under a BMW in Utah. The car burst into flames and the cyclist lay unconscious and injured under the car. Normal people didn’t even think about it. They responded. It took several of them to literally lift the burning car off the injured cyclist and pull him to safety as paramedics arrived. He should have died several times, but from his hospital bed he thanked those selfless heroes who responded and saved his life.

            Another incident: two little boys, approx 9 years of age, rescued a paralyzed and drowning victim who hit his head as he dove into a pool. He lost the use of his arms and legs as he sunk deeper to the bottom of the pool. The boys saw what happened and knew something wasn’t right. They dove into the water and struggled to lift this man who outweighed them. He was over 200 lbs., and they swam with him, pulling him to safety until medics could arrive. They, too, didn’t even hesitate to help save a life.

            This past week a young mother drove over 3 ½ hours from Indiana to Granite City, IL to kill her unborn baby. She was shocked to have to pay $245.00 in cash for an ultrasound inside the abortion mill. All they told her was that the baby was “messed up,” it would take three days to kill it, and over $2000.00 would be the fee. They would let her look at the screen as they covered it with a curtain. She was mortified and kept sobbing into the cell phone.

            Daniel and I kept taking turns to softly speak to her as she sat smoking and crying. “Honey, no matter what it is, there is nothing too big for the Lord to get you through. Trust in Him. We can help you for free.” When our words failed, we prayed out loud for the Lord to touch her heart. “She needs You, Lord. Let her know we care and how much You love her and that innocent baby.” Finally as we gave up and walked away to the front sidewalk, she stood up and started walking towards the mill entrance. Stan called over, “Would you like to see a picture of your baby on the ultrasound?” We looked up to hear her ask, “You can do that?” Stan replied, “I can’t but,” and he pointed to Angela, “she can.” That was when all three first responders kicked into action.

            We met her in the alley. Her shirt and face were wet from tears. “It’s going to be okay honey. I told you we would help you.” She wiped her eyes as we had to walk the block over to our ultrasound van due to the preventative baby saving parking between the abortion mill, the collaborating hospital, and city officials. “Kelly” came inside and we immediately went over preliminaries and scanned. She was apologizing for not listening to us earlier. BAM! There to her shock was a perfect approx 24 week old baby, presumably a girl, auditioning for her life on the screen. “Is it okay?” she asked. She then began confessing that she had been drinking a lot of alcohol and was worried. “Does it have everything?” she asked, and right on cue the baby held its tiny hand up for us to count all five fingers. “Oh my God, I can’t do it! I can’t go back in there!” she screamed. We calmed her down.

            At about that time, her girlfriend came inside the van and looked at the screen. “Is it okay?” she asked. “It appears so.” We measured and viewed different parts of the baby. She then asked if we could tell the sex. “Is it important?” we asked. “No, not really. I just want to make sure it’s okay.” Again, we reassured her and instructed her to follow-up with her physician. We checked all four chambers of the heart, counted the ribs, and viewed a closed spine. We even snapped a profile picture pointing out the tip of her nose. She listened to the heartbeats, approx 160 per minute. “They’re so fast,” she said. “Your heart would be racing too if you were a baby in the womb and realized where you were.” She finally smiled at us. “Thank you all so much. You are like angels,” Kelly said, and her friend chimed in. We handed her a baby bag full of baby gifts and a few outfits. “Now, you let me know what else you will need help with. Promise?” “Yes, of course.” And she hugged me tight before she got into the car headed back to Indiana. We watched them drive off.

            We never know if we will hear back and they follow-up with us, but two nights later after I got back in, a heartfelt message was on my machine. It was the f.o.b. He called and said, “Hello. I don’t know if you are the lady who did the ultrasound on my fiancé, but I wanted to thank you,” and he started crying. I could hear Kelly, the girl from Indiana, in the background. “I wanted to thank you for helping my Kelly and for saving my little girl. I really appreciated you being there for her. God bless you,” and he hung up. WOW! Praise the Lord!

            Thank You, Lord, for helping us to heed the call as Your chosen ones. Thank You for putting those in need across our paths, and for giving us the strength and the courage to forage on and rescue and save more lives. In Jesus’ name we pray.

            Heroes are not made. They’re born. For such a time as this. You don’t have to seek them out; they will find you. 1 Samuel 14:7 “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; I am with you.”

            Be encouraged ~Angela