Article in Stretton Focus, July 2015
One day a poor Scottish farmer heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He looked and saw a terrified boy struggling to free himself from the black mud. Farmer Hugh Fleming without thought for his own safety saved the lad from what would certainly have been a slow and dreadful death.
The next day a carriage called at Hugh Fleming’s house and a well-dressed man introduced himself as the father of the boy who had been rescued. He noticed the farmer’s son playing nearby and expressed the wish to provide the same education for him as that enjoyed by his own boy.
Hugh Fleming’s son attended the best schools, eventually graduating from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, ultimately becoming Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin.
Years later the same nobleman’s son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman was Lord Randolph Churchill and the name of the his son, saved twice by the Fleming family; Sir Winston Churchill.
In going to the rescue of the young Winston Churchill all those years ago Alexander Fleming’s father ignored the danger and did what had to be done without counting the cost, i.e. both of them could have drowned. Whilst the historical accuracy of part of this tale has been questioned I prefer to treat it as a parable.
The opportunity to help our fellow humans often occurs unexpectedly. We need to be ready and reflect on what Jesus would do in similar circumstances. Religious faiths are adept at trumpeting their beliefs but this does not make us or the world better; behaviour does. This was brought home to me recently by the observations of Melanie Reid, a tetraplegic, writing weekly in The Times magazine who said that experiencing the kindness of strangers has had a profound effect on her life.
We should all BE the change we would wish to see in the world. Alexander Fleming’s father and Randolph Churchill acted spontaneously, neither anticipating the changes that the discovery of penicillin would have on medical treatment and the lives it would save.
David Hill