On Dec 17, 2019 I was riding my motorcycle to Circle K to get a soda and some fresh air. As I left the store I heard honking at the intersection and I saw cars going around what appeared to be a stalled pickup that was not moving in the center of 3 lanes. I got on my bike, and was going that way, so I kept an eye on the truck to see if it had mechanical failure. As I drove by the opposite direction, I saw a grey haired gentleman with his chin on his chest, completely ignoring the honking of irate drivers going around him.

This didn’t seem right, so I flipped a U-turn and pulled up alongside his passenger window, banging to get his attention. No response, so I called 911 on my com gear and pulled in front of him to get out of traffic. I opened the driver’s door and shook him while talking to the 911 operator. I shook him and called his name, plainly visible on his corporate badge. I reported his lack of response to the 911 operator who said that a police officer was on site. I looked up, and there was the officer.

The officer then proceeded to shake him so hard I thought he was going to injure him, then listened for breathing sounds… of which there were none. The fire engine had arrived and a burly firefighter walked over. The firefighter grabbed the man around the chest and pulled him completely out of the truck and on to the roadway.

That was when we discovered the truck was still running, in gear, and pointed into the intersection of 6 lanes of 45mph cross traffic. My motorcycle was the only impediment.

I was holding the truck door open for the firefighter, and the police officer was pressed up against the passenger door of the truck when both of us felt the truck lurch forward and we realized that, without a foot on the brake, the truck was going to roll over/through my bike and into traffic. We both dove into the opening. Using the door for leverage, I did the splits and went foot first to get to the brake. The police officer dove in headfirst over me to get to the transmission shifter. I hit the brake, stopping the truck about 3 inches from my bike and allowing the officer to secure the vehicle. The firefighters had already started CPR and using a defibrillator as the ambulance pulled up.

A week later I got a call from the man’s wife. She told me that the doctor explained that her husband had suffered a type of heart attack that had a less than 10% survival rate under good circumstances. He had just been awakened from his medically induced coma, he was recognizing and talking to his family. His 7 year old son would have Daddy for Christmas.

Here is the handmade Christmas card I received from his son:

I marvel at all of the things that had to go right for this story to have a happy ending.

He had a 4 minute window of time to be found, diagnosed, and treated. He had a 30 minute window to be transported to an appropriate facility and put into a coma to minimize brain damage. The firefighters had the right training and equipment, and most importantly they got there in time. They could not have done their part to save this family if the police officer had not secured the scene, and neither of them would have been in time if not for the 911 system. Somebody had to notice the problem in time and decide to intervene. The doctors had to treat appropriately and effectively.

If he had been in a self-driving car, his condition would have never been noticed and he would have been delivered to his destination too late for any help.

Each of these small actions had real-time life-or-death consequences. The real miracle is that they happen all day, every day, all across our country. The true miracle is that, in spite of our many differences and small concerns, we have created a society where these miracles occur so frequently we don’t even consider them as the miracles they are. The police officer cleaned up the scene and went back to doing what he does all day long. The same with the firefighters, ambulance drivers, doctors, 911 operators etc. Most of them will never know the outcome or effect of their actions that day, but they will all carry on performing similar miracles each day.

Why do I call this a Christmas Miracle? A wife and 7 year old child still have a husband and father on Christmas Day. They are still an intact loving family with a renewed appreciation for the gift of life.

I met them on Christmas Eve the following year and they presented me with a Christmas ornament, an Angel holding a heart on the seat of a model of my motorcycle.

That ornament now hangs by my monitor as a constant reminder to be part of the everyday miracles that go on around us every day.