Hero

One

Sunday evening after I had been with my dad for the afternoon, I came home

to the small apartment that I lived in getting ready to finish my homework before

going to bed. It was a Sunday evening that seemed no different from any other.

I came home, I finished what little homework I had if there was any at all, then off

to bed…only this time, my mom didn't seem so cheery. My grandfather who was

staying with us had left to go down to the gas station without giving anything a

second thought that anything was wrong. But I knew, I knew something was wrong.

My mom was in the bathroom, and after two times I had knocked on the door, I didn't

get answer from her at all. "Mom, are you okay?" I asked. When she did answer me

though, she sounded very groggy. I knew sometimes her blood sugar dropped and

she didn't always know it was low. More than once throughout my years growing up, she

had passed out and one time she had a seizure. Luckily, my parents weren't divorced

at the time so I wasn't by myself when she got sick. Then there came a time when I

only eight years old…I was home sick with a bad stomach virus and my mom had been

so worried about me that she had taken her insulin and forgot about dinner that night.

After my dad had left for work that morning, mom passed out on the living room floor.

During that time, I never remember being scared, I just knew right away that I needed

to call for help. In a lot of ways I must have been unsure of what to do, since I had

actually called my dad first to tell him what was wrong. "Get her some juice," was

all I remember him saying. But I do know he never told me to call 911…but I did, anyway.

And while on the phone, I ended up putting the operator on hold as I had gotten sick

again…darn stomach bug! My cousin later came by and stayed with us for the day after

the paramedics had come by to treat her. My mom had wanted to get me a certificate

for saving her life…turned out I ended up waiting a few years after before I knew I was

going to even receive recognition for it. Those memories came back to me as I realized

what was happening. The next thing I knew, I heard my mom yelling. She had fallen down

and was too weak to get up. "Help me!" she was moaning. "Help me!" Without even

thinking twice about it, I grabbed my cell phone and called 911. I was scared to death

not knowing whether she would live or if she would die. The bathroom door was also

locked, so I wasn't even able to get to my mom…or so I thought. Different thoughts

were running through my mind as I held my phone up to my ear. "I gotta get in there,

but how?" I wondered. I then found myself doing what I thought would be impossible:

I kicked in the bathroom door. I thought it would take several tries to get it open, but

my first attempt worked. The door flew open, and my mom was on her hands and knees

in front of the sink. Blood was smeared across her cheek and was all over the floor.

Her lip had been busted from the fall, and whether she busted it on the edge of the

counter or the bathtub, mom never remembered. After those long five minutes had

passed, the paramedics pulled up and rushed in. My mom was completely unconscious

by then, so they had to give her an IV with sugar water. It wasn't long before she had

woken up, and when they told her she had a diabetic episode, she started crying after

I told her everything and how I had to kick the door in to get to her while I was on the

phone with 911. My grandfather came in along with my aunt and one of her friends.

(She was staying for the night with us and she left to go to the store.) I had started

crying during the whole thing as I was afraid she wouldn't make it. Realization hit me

even harder at the thought of the same situation happening to me. Besides, that could

have been me. Me. The thought sent cold chills up my spine. But even though the

thought of this happening to me was scary, I knew that even though I had Diabetes

myself I was thankful that I never had passed out before and that I never had any

seizures whatsoever. As for my mom, it was harder on her since she could be sitting

down watching t.v. then stand up and collapse from low blood sugar. That's how fast it

happened. And she never even felt like she was low at all. It never made any sense, but

the most important thing to me was that she was alive…I couldn't stand the thought

of something happening to her. The good Lord had been there the whole time…

and He had gotten me there in time to save her life. And that was something that

most kids didn't take credit for. At the time, I was eight. Now, I'm fifteen. I didn't know

what good was about to come from all of this. But God knew…

Two weeks later…

I was in the Ashland City Times…no, not the front page or anything, but the story

about how I had saved my mother's life became pretty popular…not to mention that

the day it came out, I also took the article to school with me. And every kid wanted to

see it. I was lucky that I didn't have to break up a fight with any of the kids on who

would get to see it next. My best friend even wanted my autograph…which to me

kinda felt strange since I wasn't a famous star from Hollywood or anything, just

a little country girl from Tennessee. Then again, to everyone else, I was so much more

than that. One of the guys kept saying, "she saves lives!" Sometimes he would even

blurt it out at random times in class. I was surprised that my teacher didn't scream at

him for it, not to mention she could have dragged him out of the classroom by his

ear. Yeah, I got a good laugh out of that! Either way, no one could keep their mouths

shut over the newspaper article. My friend even told the vice principal about the whole

thing the second we got to school that morning. (That's my best friend for ya! )

Whenever one person had the article, most of the kids would crowd around one desk

over all the excitement. It was also passed around during the whole class period.

And the guidance counselor even stopped me to tell me how well written the article.

I was glad everyone appreciated my effort on saving my mom's life, yet I was surprised

even more when my teacher later gave me an envelope with a letter with it. I opened

it and started to read it.

February 15th, 2012

"I just read your story in the paper and I had to take a moment to let you know what

A blessing you are to me. It is remarkable that you have saved your mother's life on

more than one occasion, but I am convinced that you "save" her life everyday by the

way God shines through you. As a mother, I know that there is nothing sweeter in

this life than to see your children walking in the gifts God has blessed them with.

You are a well-spoken young lady, and it blesses me and gives me hope to hear the way

you talk about the challenges of life. I loved the way you talked about life as a "puzzle"

that you want to put together better each day. I want to encourage you to continue

to be "salt" and "light" and God's "hands & feet" to those your life touches. We talk to

our kids about being the, "sweet aroma of Christ" to the world(I like to think of my

favorite smells-coffee & warm donuts!-and that I want to make Christ that appealing

to others by how I act!) So…you are a warm, raspberry-filled donut and a Starbucks

coffee in my book!

Remember 1 Timothy 4:12… "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young,

But set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

(you do this very well!) I am thankful for you and I am praying that God blesses you in

every way!

your sister in Christ,

Alisa Bunning

It didn't take long for me to figure out who wrote this…she was one of the teacher's

assistants at the school. I was so grateful to get this letter, most of all, God had blessed

me in many more ways than I realized that was even possible. Those few years that I

had waited for a certificate had been worth waiting, for God had planned on giving me so

much more. I had gotten publicity in a small town, or should I say, I was famous in a small

town…

"Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell.

Every grandma, in law, ex girlfriend maybe knows you just a little too well.

Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail

Hey, word's gonna get around

Everybody dies famous in a small town" –Miranda Lambert

Well, I guess everybody does die famous in a small town.

Only this time, I would die a hero, that is, a hero with a great reputation.

That's who God wanted me to be, and that's who He made me.

A hero.

The End