Inspiring acts of heroism
Published 3:10 pm Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Tragedies sometimes include storylines of heroism. First responders prevent further death and injury, medical professionals save lives, bystanders thrust into unthinkable situations perform beyond all reasonable expectations.
All that, and more, ran through last week’s shocking story of the stabbing of two freshmen girls in a Snohomish High School bathroom. One of them, April Lutz, 14, was stabbed about 13 times, doctors said, and almost certainly wouldn’t have survived if not for a sequence of truly heroic actions by people trained to save lives, and by some amazing young people who displayed uncommon courage in decisive seconds.
April’s friend, 15-year-old Bekah Staudacher, showed incredible bravery in coming to her defense, suffering a deep gash to her arm and a puncture wound to her back. How many adults, after summoning help, would return unarmed to face an armed assailant?
Other students also rushed to help. Benjamin King, April’s family said, held her in the bathroom and pressed paper towels to her wounds until paramedics arrived. Three other male students confronted the alleged attacker; one tossed the knife away from her.
Snohomish firefighters had April in the Emergency Department at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett within 24 minutes of reaching her. Realizing time was of the essence, paramedics made the right call to take April to Everett rather than having her airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, then worked to keep her heart beating on the way.
Doctors and others at Providence worked quickly and skillfully to keep her alive and mend her wounds.
Each individual action showed humanity at its best, cool and courageous under unimaginable pressure.
Taken together, they tell a real-life story of heroism that serves to inspire each of us to keep our daily challenges in perspective, and to stop and reflect on the basic goodness at the core of most people in our community.
They also form a heavy counterweight to the unspeakable fear that rose in most parents after they heard of this senseless, horrific, apparently random attack. That should leave room for a rational community response that focuses constructively on issues of mental illness in school settings.
Through all the selfless acts that saved April’s life, and the outpouring of love and support for her, Bekah and their families, this community has demonstrated — as it has before — an inner strength that suggests it can overcome anything.
