Strange days...

My life has been, up to this point, comparatively eventful by most people's standards. Still it was something of a surprise when, 5 minutes after arriving home from my training session this morning, I was heading down the street at 100 miles per hour with a dying toddler in my back seat.

Why does this stuff happen to me?

I had LITERALLY just pulled into my parking space. I was going to clean up and then buy my last Christmas gift, then spend the rainy day inside reading. As I got out of my car I saw a guy sprinting down the alley with limp child in his arms. He was talking to her in Spanish and her legs were flopping up and down in time with his feet, there was clearly something seriously wrong.

I yelled after him and asked if he needed help, but he either didn't hear me or didn't understand, he simply kept running full speed down the alley. I looked to my left and there was a lady running down the alley after him. She was a heavy-set Latina and was clearly struggling to keep up. I stopped her and asked what was wrong, she blurted out:

"Baby start shaking, baby high fever, baby dying!!!"

She was panicked and was wildly gesticulating the entire time. Now it was clear to me at this point that English was not this lady's first language, but if 2 out of 3 of the statements she had just made were even REMOTELY accurate this was a serious emergency.

I have a trait I fortunately inherited from my late father: I don't panic easily. It seems like the worse a situation is, the calmer I react to it. This is a useful trait to have if you want to make a living in a combat-related field, but its even more useful in a medical emergency. Given the average response time to a 911 call and the clearly life-threatening nature of the situation, I did some quick math.

"Do you need a car?" I asked

"We no have car." she responded, her hands shaking like butterflies

"I do, get in."

She hopped in the front seat and I took off! I was a valet at a few hotels when I was younger, that experience REALLY comes in handy when you have to pull out of a parking space at full speed. I raced down the alley and followed the path the guy and taken to the left. He had been running to the fire station a block behind my apartment. No one was there and he was standing outside with a "what am I going to do now" look on his face and an unconscious little girl in his arms.

I pulled the car up to the front of the station and told him to get in. A guy in a pickup had parked in front of the station and I stuck my head out the window and asked him where the nearest hospital was (I've only lived there a few months). He told me where it was (only a couple of miles away) and I hit the gas.

Occasions where you aren't concerned about the law or your own person safety are pretty rare, but in my opinion they are to be used to the fullest. So-Cal is in the middle of a Noah's Ark level storm at the moment and it was coming down in buckets this morning and here I was speeding through red lights with my pedal to the FLOOR, horn blaring. I figured if we spun out, at least an ambulance would come either way.

We had to stop at a major intersection and turned around to see how our patient was doing. She was still out and her (I assume) father was holding her on his lap. I put my hand on her back and she was as hot as a furnace. She was breathing, but it was VERY shallow and labored. It sounded like she was breathing through mud. I gave him my sweater and he wrapped it around her. He was constantly talking to her. He didn't speak any English and my Spanish isn't good enough to pick up what he was saying. I can only assume he was saying what any parent would say to their child at that point:

"Just hold on, you are going to be OK. Everything is alright, we are going to take care of you."

I didn't need a translation for that, I just drove, FAST.

We made the hospital in less than 2 minutes. I just left the car running and we bolted into the emergency room. There was one woman in there talking to the receptionist. The (once again I assume) parents were trying to get her attention and she said something along the lines of

"Cant you see there is a lady in front of you?"

Look, I can appreciate the civility behind "first come-first served", but I'm sure an exception could be made FOR A DYING TODDLER!!! Fortunately a nurse came out immediately and I didn't have to put my fist through the receptionist's window. I explained the situation as best I could: 1. unconscious kid 2. high fever 2. possible seizures. They took us back to see a doctor who immediately began inserting an IV into the limp child's arm.

I had done everything I could do, all I was going to do at this point was get in the way. I wished them good luck and took back my sweater. They started crying and thanked me profusely. I told them it was no problem and wished them a merry Christmas. I get the feeling that no matter what happens on Christmas morning, they are going to have a lot to be thankful for.

I still have to buy my sister's Christmas gift, but I'm sure she'll understand if its a few days late...