Have you saved a life?

[john917v]

I think that we can learn a lot from helping others. I know I did. I figure if they're not....destined...to live, they won't. It's unfortunate, but death's a part of life, and ongoing cycle.

[St.Michael]

The two that I've saved weren't worth saving, but I did it anyway because it was my duty.

John I think this is a typical response from First Responders. There is a reason for our gallows humor.

I did jump off a bridge into a river to rescue a suicide jumper once. And kicked in the door of a burning apartment building (fully engulfed) to drag out an unconscious woman (crackhead prostitute) passed out from smoke inhalation. And neither one of those people were worth saving, but I did it anyway because it was my job.

Just a couple off the top of my head.

Just one of the reasons I'm not in Law Enforcement anymore. I have no desire to save anybody that has no desire to save themselves. Stopping a suicide is not saving a life, so please don't pat yourself on the back for it.

edit: This is not directed at anybody in particular, just a personal observation of how I view society.

What if the person you save ends up realizing they made a mistake?

Also I have only ever had to save my child when he swallowed his food without chewing. Twice. Sigh.

[Jeriah]

I'm pretty sure every parent has saved their child's life dozens of times. Babies are like what would happen if you took a retarded foreigner, got him, drunk, fed him mushrooms, and then turned his bones into porcelain and his skin into tissue paper. Seriously, a stiff breeze could kill a baby, and they seem near-suicidal in their penchant for going places/doing stuff/eating things that stand a good chance of killing 'em. (Not a parent myself but I remember seeing my dad save my baby brother from drowning when I was very, very young. Although it might have been a dream. I was REALLY young.)

Personally...meh, I can't take credit for having saved anyone's life directly. I've talked to some suicidal people who ended up not killing themselves but I don't know that I "saved a life," more like gave them someone to vent at until they decided they were done being melodramatic.

Gave some shivering homeless lady a spare coat, but this was San Diego, so even in winter it was like, I dunno, probably about 45; I don't think she was in any real danger. She tried to kiss me, it was gross.

Called 911 for a friend of mine when we were teenagers, who had heat exhaustion on a trail due to I dunno, poor planning on her part. She'd been pissing me off the whole trip due to her ineptitude so when it came down to waiting with her and missing my ride home, vs. calling 911 and letting her take a $10,000 helicopter ride...not sure I did the right thing, but she's alive. I wouldn't say that I saved her life, more like "didn't kill her by abandoning her entirely." Not expecting any pats on the back for this one; my decision was half selfish but didn't result in any permanent harm to her, so it's a net...well, if not a win, then at least not a fail, either.

[Istvan56]

Yes, I've saved a few in the course of my profession and once as a parent with one of my own children. The latter are very satisfying, well, no, you are frightened, elated, angry at what act of stupidity led to this and grateful that your kid is alive.

With some of the cases I never learned how the person I treated fared over the long term. Did they recover or die later? That's part of being just a stranger who provided only minutes of care. Suicidal people are even more difficult to predict the long term end for the story. Did the person get the proper treatment or was I just delaying the inevitable?

So I understand where Sigboy40 is coming from having "saved" a young woman from committing suicide, at that moment, but not preventing her from continuing her self-destructive behavior. Saving a life is not saving a soul. First Responders are only treating the boo-boos, putting bandaids on till more competent medical authorities can do the real work. The problem with mental illness, drug (including alcohol) abuse, etc. is that the hands of the medical authorities are often tied. If the person doesn't want to change you are pissing in the wind.

As a foster parent I deal with the children of drug abusing parents fairly often. The kids are in the system while their parents are given the chance, usually multiple chances, to get their lives in order. Most of the time they don't make it and the kids become legally free and adoptable. Of course if the kid is over age 10 or part of a large sibling group then they almost never get adopted and stay part of the very, broken state system until they reach the age of majority (18 unless they opt to stay with a foster family, then till 21).

[KnightoftheRoc]

Yes, I have- I don't do it to pass on the stories, or ask for credit or validation, I just do it if and when it comes up.

On the saving of suicides, or others you feel "weren't worth it", regardless of your personal estimations of them, they ARE lives. Who knows, having been saved might just get them to re-think their lives so far, and start making themselves better people. They might even end up being "worth it". You'd certainly think so if one of them ended up saving YOUR life in a few years, wouldn't you?

I know, there are an awful lot of people in the world, that, frankly, well, the world probably wouldn't miss much if they checked out early. However, I'm the eternal optimist on some things, and I prefer to think of such cases as being the chance for them to start over, and try doing it right- in the end, I'm not the one who will be judging the worth or worthiness of anyone's life- not even my own. That job goes to a much higher pay grade than mine.

[DocMartin]

Yes, I have- I don't do it to pass on the stories, or ask for credit or validation, I just do it if and when it comes up.

On the saving of suicides, or others you feel "weren't worth it", regardless of your personal estimations of them, they ARE lives. Who knows, having been saved might just get them to re-think their lives so far, and start making themselves better people.

One of the people I stopped from committing suicide has gone to live a good life. She has great friends, she has a loyal boyfriend, a good job, living by herself and going places and of course me if she needs it again. And yes, she has actually been there for me.

Another one I helped became my girlfriend. To this day I'm not sure if that was a good choice at the time, even though I was real happy with her, because after a few months we had a REAL hard break up and we were on/off in a friends-with-benefits relationship. Now, she's happy now with a new boyfriend and her friends have forgiven her ways from before and I'm happy to see her smiling whenever I walk past her.

So yeah, there is a little bit of a benefit when you help someone through harsh times. It's just you that you have to take care of afterwards.

[Regular Guy]

I saved kids in pools TOO MANY times. Please, watch your kids around pools. Please, I really don't like replacing my cell phone 2-3 times a summer.

Grabbed too many kids who were strolling into traffic. Please watch your kids.

Helped some Haitians from getting killed by mobs. I may not speak whatever the hell they speak in Haiti (french, spanish, english blended and not blended well) but I do translate M16 well.

[txKingfisher]

.... (crackhead prostitute) passed out from smoke inhalation.......

which smoke? from the fire or the pipe?

[riverjoe47]

Jeriah wrote .....
Gave some shivering homeless lady a spare coat, but this was San Diego, so even in winter it was like, I dunno, probably about 45; I don't think she was in any real danger. She tried to kiss me, it was gross.

I imagine that this simple act of kindness renewed the ladies faith in humanity and she cleaned herself up checked into a homeless shelter where she became a volunteer and saved countless lives .

[Jeriah]

Jeriah wrote .....
Gave some shivering homeless lady a spare coat, but this was San Diego, so even in winter it was like, I dunno, probably about 45; I don't think she was in any real danger. She tried to kiss me, it was gross.

I imagine that this simple act of kindness renewed the ladies faith in humanity and she cleaned herself up checked into a homeless shelter where she became a volunteer and saved countless lives .

Oh, definitely.

Actually, she looked pretty much like a crack whore, and I'm pretty sure if there's some kind of reckoning at the end I'm going to see a checklist like, "Saved one crack whore, thereby indirectly causing 35,532,195 cases of herpes, 34,674 cases of HPV, 2,401 cases of syphalis, and eight crack babies who went on to become Prosti-Tots...just kidding, she wasn't in any real danger, so that shit ain't on you."

[riverjoe47]

I just knew Id get a warm fuzzy response .

[Jeriah]

I just knew Id get a warm fuzzy response .

If by "warm and fuzzy" you mean "itchy with a burning sensation" then yes.

[TacAir]

Yes.
Apparently, if you have no emotional connection to the person, there isn't a choir of angels, nor do you feel like a super hero, or any urge to brag about it. Dunno, I thought it would be more awesome than is is.

In the 'ya, but' column, I got to be more worried about not getting the disease of the week than 'saving' the victim de jour.
Got out of the business because that kind of crappy attitude (that was me) doesn't do anyone good, short or long term.

I find that I am both happy with the decision, as is wife, and not missing it much - tho the people interface (with the sober, non-crackheads) was kinda interesting.

+ a lot on the not so awesome, it is a job meme. I suspect location is the big driver there.

[TacAir]

I just knew Id get a warm fuzzy response .

If by "warm and fuzzy" you mean "itchy with a burning sensation" then yes.

I don't care what you say - that there was funny!

[Trebor]

I pulled a 7 or 8 year old girl out of the path of a German Hetzer AFV at an airshow two years ago. The re-enactors were driving from the field back to their camp through the crowd that lined both sides of a small dirt trial. The girl was looking the other way and ran right by me and right in front of the oncoming vehicle. I had to take a couple steps and literally yank her off the path. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have cleared it and that the vehicle wouldn't have stopped in time.

I wrote a nasty letter to the airshow organizers about the lack of crowd control and safety issues regarding the vehicle movements.

I've got a pic of the vehicle somewhere. I'll post it if I can find it. No picture of the girl though.

I also gave my wife (then GF) the Heimlich about 10 years ago or so when she was choking on a piece of steak at Ryan's Steakhouse. She still says she was OK, but from where I was sitting she looked like she wasn't getting any air and couldn't answer me. I calmly got up, walked behind her, and did the Heimlich as she was sitting in her chair. This huge piece of steak came flying out.

[the_klenzer]

I just knew Id get a warm fuzzy response .

If by "warm and fuzzy" you mean "itchy with a burning sensation" then yes.

LOL. That's ---> <---- this close to siggable!

[Bubba Enfield]

More than one, working on the ambulance. I got an award for it once, when I was a volunteer firefighter. I can't say for sure how many, and I don't want to know, because multiplying that number by ten or fifteen would give me the number of folks I didn't save. That's a number I'd rather not know.

[dukman]

I think everyone has done something to save a life. Maybe not being the one to do the chest compressions or Heimlich, but sometimes being the one to call 911 right away can be all the difference between life and death. Who knows if pulling someone out of harms way was the difference between life and death either. It could have ended up a close call if you had done nothing. Who knows if one of those drunks I have called in ended up saving someone's life?


Don't be like Larry the Cableguy: "I used to be a lifeguard till some blue kid got me fired!"

[KnightoftheRoc]

Let's not forget- there are many people who have saved lives, and never known it, directly. People who donate blood, for instance. Or organ donors who save lives after their own are done. Or, even the dollar donation to the Red Cross. While running out into the street to prevent a toddler from getting creamed (done that myself, once) might be a very direct involvement, the others I mentioned are no less important, albeit a bit less direct.

[basmith42]

We came out of our bedroom one morning and my wife's aunt was passed out on the floor (she spent the night). We called 911. She was in a diabetic coma; if we had slept in...
I guess we saved her life. I don't want to be in that situation ever again. I didn't recognize that rattling breath at the time having only heard it once before when I was eight-ish. I heard it again when my mom passed. My wife's aunt was really close to not making it...

[Blacksmith]

It is the faces of the ones you couldn't save that you see before you go to sleep at night.

[DocMartin]

I think everyone has done something to save a life. Maybe not being the one to do the chest compressions or Heimlich, but sometimes being the one to call 911 right away can be all the difference between life and death. Who knows if pulling someone out of harms way was the difference between life and death either. It could have ended up a close call if you had done nothing. Who knows if one of those drunks I have called in ended up saving someone's life?

Yeah that's a good point. It reminds me of all the time I've called police dispatch while I'm volunteering (I'm a police volunteer) when I see a drunk person stumbling onto the street, or people dangerously driving or starting fights. Or when my buddies and I (after my volunteer shift) followed a drunkard stumbling around where he almost got run over and we made sure no one else was around while I called it in and rendered aid.

The smallest thing you do can lead up to saving someone's life.

[shrapnel]

I donate blood four or five times a year. Other than that, nope, and I'm happy to keep things that way.

[silentpoet]

I was just a kid when I saved my nieces life. She was a baby, only a few weeks or months old. I was sitting behind her on a horse/pony(I don't recall which for sure but I think they called it a pony). They were taking pictures and I guess maybe the horse/pony got spooked by a flash or maybe the noise. All I know is it took off and she started to fall. I actually rode on the side of the horse for a few moments like the trick riders do at rodeos and such. I caught her and was somehow able to get back upright. It was not skill, I was only 7 or 8 and to the best of my knowledge had never ridden a horse much less done any trick riding. She is now a mother of two kids. They wouldn't be here if I hadn't saved her. I do feel pride that I did it, but it is not something I think about much. It was one of my finest moments in life.