Remember that article I wrote a couple of weeks ago about Survival Fitness and the importance of being able to respond to emergencies to help yourself or others? Well here’s some reinforcement that stresses the validity of that message.
Just last week, we had some very fierce winds, up to 60 miles per hour in some cases. We are always concerned that in the event of heavy winds, one of the massive oak trees just a few yards from our house will fall and collapse our roof, landing in the bedroom. This is not an unwarranted fear. It’s happened before in our area.
While there were trees down across some of the main roads in our area as a result of this storm, we are fortunate that no trees have crashed into our bedroom yet. A family just a few short miles away, in Bethesda, Maryland on the Washington DC border was not so fortunate. The end of their story turned out well, but serves as a reinforcement for the importance of being fit enough to respond to emergencies.
During that storm, winds in excess of 60 mph toppled a tree into the bedroom of that family’s home in Bethesda, MD, knocking the husband unconscious in the bed. His wife was able to pull her husband “out of the rubble” and was carrying him downstairs when help arrived, according to their daughter. The husband was kept overnight at a local hospital after regaining consciousness. Later, the entire roof collapsed, according to National news reports.
The ages of the husband and wife were not given and I didn’t find any reference to their age online. But it doesn’t matter. She was able to rescue her unconscious husband from a deadly situation by dragging and carrying him to safety. The news reports didn’t speak to her health or fitness.
Sometimes emergencies can bring out a hitherto unknown source of strength. We’ve all heard stories about a mother lifting the car off her child pinned underneath. Can that happen? Here’s a first hand story. In the early 1960s three friends were driving west of Washington, DC to look at the new town called “Reston”. They were in an old two-seater sports car, this one with nearly bald tires. There were three in the two seat car. The convertible top was down so they all could fit. All this before seat belts. They hit a slick spot and slid off the highway, down a hill, rolling a couple of times. The passengers were thrown from the car. The driver was trapped underneath with only his head sticking out of the upside down car. A passerby ran down the hill to the car, lifted it up and rolled it over, by himself, freeing the trapped youngster, likely saving his life. My wife was one of the passengers. Could he have moved that car off the driver without the extra-human strength that an adrenaline surge like that prompts? Who knows?
Uncommon strength can sometimes be found in emergency situations. You are far better off it you are fit and strong enough to be able to rescue yourself and others, in case of emergency, when no one else is around to help. The Bethesda, Maryland couple knows that first hand.
Thank you for reading.