Life is precious. It is normal to do everything in our power to preserve life. This is why we can be so thankful for firefighters, medical personnel, good Samaritans and just law enforcement. Here are the stories of four people whose lives were saved by such people.
SAVED FROM A BURNING CAR
A man was driving down I-94 in Minnesota when he lost control of his car, which then veered off the road and smashed into a light pole, causing the front of his car to burst into flames. Other drivers, witnessing the accident and seeing the towering flames, stopped to see if they could help.
As it turned out, the driver desperately needed help. His car had gone over the guardrail, trapping him inside the car. Several good Samaritans tried to open the driver’s door but couldn’t because the guardrail was in the way. Kadir Tolla, one of the people who stopped to help, attempted to smash the driver’s window with a piece of plastic that he found by the roadside. Car cameras caught the scene of flames literally smacking the rescuers in the face as they tried to extricate the driver. But they absolutely refused to give up! Tolla told news outlets that the driver was conscious and kept saying, “Pull me out; pull me out; pull me out!”
Finally, a highway worker ran to help with the right piece of equipment to shatter the window. Several bystanders were then able to pull the driver out of the car. They were just in time! Immediately after, flames could be seen entering the driver’s side of the car before completely engulfing it. These total strangers had saved the driver’s life, enabling him to escape without injury.
Tolla will remember this incident for the rest of his life. “That could be me one day,” he said. “What would happen if I was in that situation and my life was in the hands of strangers that I didn’t even know?”
It is amazing. People realize the deadly danger of fire and will do everything in their power to escape it. Jesus warned that the wicked would one day be cast into “the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:5050And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:50)). Yet people are determined to live their lives as if eternity doesn’t exist, or if it does, it’s not important. Many treat their afterlife with a careless flippancy, such as, “I’ll deal with it when I get there!” Worst of all, many people think that they’re too good to go to such an awful place when they die. But because God loves us and is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), He is faithful to tell us the truth. “God sent not His Son [Jesus] into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:17-1817For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17‑18)). Are you saved? Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, that repentance toward God and faith in Him will save you, and that God will give you eternal life?
SUBSTITUTE DOCTOR SAVES LITTLE GIRL’S LIFE
The mother just knew that something wasn’t right with her little girl. Yet over a period of months, frustratingly, doctors kept assuring her that she was fine and that there was nothing to worry about. But her daughter was not thriving. After yet another visit to the pediatrician’s office, a substitute doctor saw her and decided to order a series of blood tests. It ended up being the salvation of the baby’s life by just days!
The mother posted on TikTok, thanking the doctor for saving her little girl’s life. “He was like the fifth doctor that saw her. We went to neurologists, cardiologists, PCPs [Primary Care Physicians] and the hospital. We were running into brick walls. All they had to do was run blood work.” She had heartfelt thanks for Dr. Zachary Johnson, a critical care medicine specialist at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. She commented that she had gone to that office for years and never met him before. She thought it was “very bizarre” that he happened to be filling in on that particular day.
Blood work proved that her little girl had two existing conditions: Protein Enteropathy and Severe Anemia. Her hemoglobin was only 2.5, causing her body to fill with fluids, which were crushing her organs, which were then shutting down. It’s not an exaggeration to say that she was literally days from dying!
She was immediately taken to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where the family spent four days while she was being treated. Treatments included four blood transfusions and two iron infusions. Testing was also being conducted for any underlying conditions. We can only imagine how grateful her parents were that they had persisted in discovering what was wrong with their little girl!
Instinctively, this mother realized that her daughter had a health issue. Thankfully, she didn’t ignore it, or the result would have been death. We too have an inner awareness that there is a God and that there is life after death. It’s our spirit within us, that God-consciousness that we are all born with. “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Proverbs 20:2727The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. (Proverbs 20:27)).
We too need to realize that we are lost in our sins and that even our good works are as filthy rags in God’s sight. We are in desperate need of a cure for our sin problem! It is only through faith in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross for our sins and repentance toward God from our heart that we can find healing and forgiveness for our sins. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). To ignore our sin problem is spiritual death. To be cleansed from our sins will give us eternal life. Which will you choose?
COUGAR ATTACK!
Washington State is known for its breathtaking beauty with many biking trails for cyclists to enjoy the outdoors. This is what a group of five friends were doing one Saturday afternoon near Fall City, when suddenly, without warning, a cougar jumped out of the woods and attacked a 60-year-old lady among them.
But her friends were true friends! Bravely and courageously, they managed to get the cougar off her and pin it down under one of their mountain bikes, holding it there until help arrived. “It jumped from the side of the road and latched onto her, and her friends were able to detach and fight this thing off,” said Sgt. Carlo Pace, who was with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The woman suffered serious injuries to her face, neck and jaw, but she was able to survive, thanks to her loyal friends. “They 100% saved their friend’s life,” said Pace. “They were able to pin down a good size lion with its claws and teeth and everything else under a mountain bike until we arrived.” The cougar was later shot and killed by fish and wildlife police.
Cougars are powerful, dangerous animals. Though attacks on humans are rare, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has made a list of things you can do if you are ever approached by a cougar. If you have small children, pick them up and face the cougar. Do not run, but back away slowly, talking to the cougar firmly, while leaving it an escape route if you can. Face the cougar and do not turn your back! Do not take your eyes off the cougar, and do not crouch down or try to hide. If you are with others, stand shoulder to shoulder and try to make yourselves look as large as possible. If the cougar refuses to leave, be more aggressive. Wave your arms, yell and throw anything you have at it, but do not back down. If the cougar attacks, fight! People have been able to fight off cougars by using sticks, stones and even their bare hands!
We, too, have an adversary that wants to destroy us spiritually. “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). How does he try to devour us? When we hear of the love of God and salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus, we may not understand it at first, so the devil tries to harden our heart. He will tell us lies, such as other things are more important and that our soul’s destiny really doesn’t matter. He will tell us that we’re not really all that bad, certainly not as bad as others. He will cloud our judgment, so that we don’t realize our desperate need of a Savior, our absolute need to have our sins forgiven.
Satan, as a roaring lion ready to kill, wants to blind your mind to the glorious gospel of Christ. “In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan will only offer you spiritual death and eternity in hell. God offers you cleansing and forgiveness of your sins through the death of His Son Jesus on the cross for your sins. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9)).
HEART ATTACK AT THE AIRPORT
On an early Friday morning, June 7, a crowd of people were at Charlotte Douglass International Airport waiting at their gate for a flight to Knoxville, Tennessee, to take off. While waiting, a very observant registered nurse, Claire Cerbie, noticed that a man near her was having a heart attack. Acting quickly, she got other good Samaritans nearby to help as she performed CPR. Another person grabbed a defibrillator.
The man whose life she saved was 57-year-old Ken Jeffries from Jacksonville, Florida. They later connected on a Zoom call with WBTV. Claire gave further details on what had happened. “Just the way that you were snoring and breathing sounded like you were having a heart attack based on what I’ve seen before,” she said. It took her and the others about 10 minutes of working on him before he had a pulse and was breathing on his own. She further explained, “We put the pads on him,” she said. “It indicated a shockable rhythm, and it shocked him in between while we were doing compressions.”
Cerbie and others that had helped stayed with Jeffries until medical help arrived. He was rushed to the hospital where immediate surgery was performed by Dr. William Downey, a cardiologist. Dr. Downey stated that Jeffries would surely have died had not Cerbie and others cared enough to help him. Jeffries later said that he didn’t notice any signs or symptoms associated with having a heart attack.
A visibly emotional Jeffries thanked Cerbie for what she had done that day for him. “A thank you is not enough, Claire. Thank you for what you did. I’m so appreciative and indebted to you.”
Those who have been made spiritually alive by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ can say, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)). We will thank and praise Him for all eternity for all He has done for us, for so great salvation! “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Will you be one of those who give thanks, praise and glory to God in heaven forever? As wonderful as having our lives spared is, to be saved for eternity is incomparably greater!
Carl was near death and under attack in Vietnam. Learn a lesson from him in Helpless!