Friday, February 13, 2009

Soul Lifter of the Day


The firefighter crawled on his stomach through the pitch-black apartment, the smoke so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Somewhere inside was a baby and he had to find her.

A window broke, light filled the room, and he saw her lying in her crib, dressed only in a diaper, unconscious. Soot covered her tiny nose. She wasn't breathing and had no pulse.
He grabbed her and breathed life into her as he ran from the apartment.
A newspaper photograph captured their image - a white firefighter from South Boston with his lips pressed to the mouth of a black baby from the Roxbury public housing development - at a time when riots sparked by racial tensions were burning down American cities.
-The Boston Globe
The above event happened 40 years ago, but the firefighter and the baby he saved only met yesterday: he long retired and moving much slower; she now a 40 year old woman with seven children of her own and a large thank you long overdue.
For the full story and the moving video piece click HERE.

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