Life can be dangerous, and sometimes the only thing one can depend on is other people. People save others. That is a fact of life, whether they are in the military, or are an everyday civilian. Life is our most precious possession, and losing it is the worst possible outcome for anyone. Unfortunately, many people are put in situations where they can lose their lives, and all one can count on is someone to save them.
Sr. Sam Strobel saved a life over the summer. He was at the nearby Lake Michigan beach with his brother Soph. Mac Strobel, when he noticed a woman in the water. The woman had been moving weirdly, and he initially thought that she had been doing yoga. Upon closer inspection, he saw that she had not been doing yoga, she was struggling against the waves. “She was actually on her back pretty close to shore, but her head was under water and she couldn’t get herself up.” Sam hooked his arms underneath the woman’s armpits and pulled her head out of the water, then dragged her to safety. “She wasn’t conscious when I got her out of the water.” Soon, though, the woman coughed up some water and regained consciousness, immediately demanding to be helped further away from the water. Then Sam saw what he assumed was the woman’s friend farther down the beach, also struggling against the waves. Being tired from dragging this woman to shore, he instructed his brother Mac to go help the second woman. “The second woman wasn’t really in danger, but she was having trouble getting out of the water,” said Sam. At that point, a man appeared at the top of the steps that lead to the beach. This man seemed to know the woman, so Sam and his brother left.
West Ottawa graduate, Trevor Fairfield also saved a life recently. On January 20, on his way to Chik Fil-A, he and his friend Jarret Basset encountered an accident. This accident, involving a 19 year old male driver, and 21 year old Danyell Oosterveld, was very dangerous, as the vehicle Oosterveld had been driving was in flames. “There was some people who were running the other direction because they saw fire and we were running towards the fire,” said Fairfield. Fairfield and his friend pried the door open, and pulled her out of the burning vehicle. “I don’t know what I would have done if they didn’t pull me out because my car was on fire,” Oosterveld said. Fairfield and Basset are being hailed as heroes because of this event, and it is all because they decided to run into the face of danger instead of away.
One senior also saved someone over the summer. He saved his best friend from school, a friend who had been contemplating suicide. He had been playing video games with one of his friends when he got a message on skype from his best friend stating that he would end his life. The senior immediately dropped what he was doing and started talking to his best friend, doing his best to calm them down. “I did feel bad that I left my friend for 2 hours with no information on my whereabouts,” he said “but suicide is a serious subject, and I would expect any one of my friends to understand that a subject like that trounces everything else,” The senior was fearful at the situation, saying “I was afraid I might lose my most prominent friend and ally in life, and I hope no one ever has to go through it, the wanting to take your own life, and having a friend in a similar situation.” He exclaimed his overall joy that he saved his friend, and his friend is happy that they did not take their own life. According to the senior, his friend is on medication now, and the medication is working. “He thanks me often for saving him.”
Some people may save lives in the upcoming blood drive. Others have a more dramatic story.