Thanks 'A' for sharing that story with us all here, it does make you wonder how fortunate we are to be alive.
I recall one of the saddest experiences I'm ever likely to have.
Some years ago now on a non urgent & somewhat routine mission (sad to say) to retrieve a young boy back to ML for cancer treatment I had a very moving experience. The young boy who had lost his hair & who could barely walk up the steps into the old Beech looked starstruck at the cockpit full of dials & gauges.His mother whom was accompanying him to the Melb based hossy mentioned that her son aged around 8 yrs old if I recall loved planes & wanted to be a fighter pilot. Well I checked with the paramedic & his mum & promptly asked if he would like to sit in the pilots seat & hang onto the control wheel for aminute, his eyes lit up like saucers! It took a bit of effort to get him in place with tubes hanging out of the poor kid but once in the seat that boy sat there dumbfounded,almost motionless hands gripping the column like it was his last wish.................the paramedic & mum where sitting behind me chatting out of my view, just as well as I had tears streaming down my face..........................you just never appreciate the little things in life 'till it hits home hard!
I never followed upon any of the medical cases as it was tuff enough as it was sometimes.
We now live in an ugly world where fewer & fewer people care...........how sad
Wmk2