Spirituality and Self Help
LOVE's Open House
LOVE visits the morgue
“Will you take my place on duty?” asked
Debbie.
Changing schedules was permitted with the
Victim Crisis Assistance and Referral Service (VCARS) as long as the
replacement was qualified. I had been on the team longer than Debbie, so
it wasn’t a problem. Little did I know, it was to be a necessity.
The VCARS program was partnered with the
city police. Whenever the police were called to an incident, the
volunteers of VCARS were called in also to assist the victims, which
would enable the police to go to their next call. VCARS served in all
cases, whether it be rape, break and enter, an accident-everything and
anything except a domestic incident or drunkenness.
It was two days before Christmas, and
Debbie would be able to travel home for the holidays two days earlier if
I said yes. I was hoping to do my last-minute shopping and cooking, and
didn’t really want to do her shift. The two-hour ride home after her
shift wouldn’t be hard to do! I thought, a little perturbed.
What would LOVE do? I asked. “Say yes,”
came the answer. But I don’t want to! I replied. Ok! Send me what I need
and I will do it! I told LOVE.
Ten minutes after saying yes to Debbie, I
received a call from the police. I had to go to a home to take the
family to the morgue to identify their eight-year-old son who had just
been run over by a train!
Oh, my God! What will be left of him?
What must the family be going through!
The father had been out on a Christmas
pass from one of the minimum-security prisons and had decided to take
his son ice fishing with him and his brother. The boy was thrilled. He
loved to fish and he loved being with his dad and uncle … with the men.
His mom and eleven-year-old sister stayed home to do some Christmas
baking. Dad was going to be home for Christmas-the first time in a long
while. They whistled and talked. The boy couldn’t be happier. Dad
decided to take a shortcut by walking along the railway track.
What was that sound? The roar was getting
closer! A train was coming! There was only one thing they could do to
get to safety– jump across the track!
They jumped and fell to the ground.
Before he could get up, the father saw his son’s boot on the ground on
the other side. No! It couldn’t be! He had to have made it! His boot
just fell off as he jumped! Maybe he fell backwards and didn’t get
sucked in by the train! Nooooo! He screamed and screamed and screamed
and screamed!
It was impossible to hold him. He went
crazy.
By the time I was called, the ambulance
had taken the boy to the hospital morgue. I personally had seen many
dead bodies but never one that had been run over by a train.
It took some time to gather everyone, to
calm them enough to go to the hospital and then prepare them for the
nightmare that was about to take place.
His sister insisted on going in with her
parents. They allowed it, knowing it would be the last time she would
have a chance to say good-bye to her little brother.
The child and family’s angels must have
been with them because the greater damage had been done below the neck.
They managed to wipe some blood off his face but couldn’t hide the
bruises and cuts.
Our hearts felt like they were being
ripped out of our bodies. I didn’t know this boy, but I could tell he
was special. I remained with that family the entire day. I continued to
serve them through the funeral, Christmas, and a few days after that.
It was apparent why LOVE asked me to take
Debbie’s place that fateful day. She could have chosen someone else to
ask for the favor, but she asked me.
I was trained in palliative and pastoral
care, had worked in hospitals, had seen many terrible accidents, and had
gone to more funerals than I cared to count.
Debbie had never been to one funeral in
her life, nor had she seen a dead body.
LOVE knew where it needed to be and knew
which one to send.
I was glad I had said yes to Debbie’s
request. The shopping didn’t get done, but it no longer mattered!
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