6 Miles With Courage

by LaCorte, Thomas

  “I have a pulse,” he said, “he is unconscious and appears to be in a coma. He has blood coming out his ear and there is blood on the back of his head. He also has a lot of ant bites on his neck. But other than that, I think he is in pretty good shape.”

  “Yes!” Bob and Mike said in unison, each throwing a fist to the air.

  “Take us up quick we need to get him to a trauma unit fast.” The man in the rescue basket said. The three of them stood there watching with Ryan holding onto their shoulders as the basket was taken into the chopper. They watched as the chopper disappeared over the treetops and the deafening sound began to wane. Ryan, still looking up into the drizzle released his grip. It was an awkward moment for Bob and for Mike. Bob searched for some words to say.

  “I just want you to know I’m dropping all charges.”

  “Thank you,” Ryan said as he turned and sympathetically looked at Bob.

  “Ryan I truly am sorry and I hope you can forgive me for doubting you.”

  “I had my doubts about you too sheriff.” Ryan said. And then he continued.

  “Bob you were doing your job and I was doing mine. I want you to know that I never lost faith—never. But when you opened that cabin door and showed me the truth, I went into shock. My whole world was pulled out from under me.”

  “Ryan I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what else to think!”

  “I want you both to know something right here and now. I’m going to tell you something and then I’m not going to repeat this, not to the press, not to my mother, not to anyone. My father spoke to me as if he were seated next to me in the wreckage. He told me how to get back, where I could find Mike, and how long he could hold on. He told me how I could find the courage to make it back here and if it were not for him I wouldn’t be standing here, right here, right now.”

  Mike felt the need to say something, “Ryan I think we all can agree that something miraculous has happened here today. I can’t think of any other way you would have known where and when to find me if your father had not told you. And I can’t think of any reason why he would have told you this before the crash so yes I believe that your father helped you through this. Bob would you agree?”

  “Absolutely I agree. I can’t explain it but I most certainly agree. I think that if there is one person who can explain it—it’s going to be Rob. In the meantime, the press is going to be all over this story. Especially when they find out that your father was plucked from the top of a tree. I will hold them off as long as I can but you will most likely have to make a statement before too long. Think about what you might tell them Ryan. Who knows how long it will be before you can speak to your father about this or if he will even remember. Until then you’re going to have to find some words to say or the press will keep hounding you. As for me, and I’m sure I can speak for Mike as well, we have seen enough here today to know that God has had a hand in this and that’s well enough for me. I don’t care if I ever learn the details.”

  After Bob spoke, Tim called in on the radio from the boat saying that they had listened to rescue on the radio and he wanted to know if they were on the way back. Bob told him that they would be starting the journey back shortly. Before they did however, they embraced each other in a pact to protect Ryan’s privacy. It was only a hug and a hand shake but it was a seal of trust.

  There were many questions that Ryan would be seeking answers for, more than just the question of how he had communicated with his father. They were burning questions that he could not even have dreamed of sharing with Bob and Mike. Questions like who were the people that helped him along the way? Were they real? Where did they come from? Where did they go? And as unbelievable as it may seem, every question would be answered. It would take some time and patience. It would take investigation and cooperation but they all would be answered.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Judy arrived at the hospital just as the helicopter was landing. The heavy drizzle had not stopped, but that did not stop her from trying to run to the chopper. The hospital guard cut her off with his electric cart, jumping out and throwing his arm around her waist. “Hold on a minute where do you think you’re going?”

  “I’ve got to see my husband, see if he is ok,” she said straining against his arm, “please let me go, just let me go to him.” It was a scene that the guard had grown accustom to.

  “Ma’am,” he said. Judy continued to pressure his arm, “Ma’am, look at me,” he said gently turning her face towards his. “How do you know that your husband is in that helicopter? We have helicopters coming and going all the time.”

  “Well, I guess you could be right,” Judy said.

  “Let me take you inside, please?” he said, gently taking her hand, and leading her to his cart.

  The electric cart sprang forward with a whine as he pushed the accelerator to the floor whisking her rapidly towards the emergency room. It had hardly come to a stop when they both jumped out and headed through the doors.

  “This lady would like to know if Mr. Rob Sykes is the patient on that helicopter,” the guard asked the attendant as Judy paced back and forth looking out the window. She watched as several people emerged from the helicopter. They looked anxious about something. Judy felt as though they were looking at her as she stood near the window.

  “Maybe you didn’t hear me. I said the lady would like to know if—”

  Bang!

  The loud noise startled Judy as the doors on the far side of the emergency room flung open. A train of doctors and nurses quickly flowed into the room with an array of medical equipment. Judy, frozen like a deer in the headlights, was quickly ushered aside by the guard. They were out the door and at the helicopter in no time at all. The guard finally got his answer from the attendant.

  “It’s your husband ma’am,” he said to Judy who did not look back but stood looking intently out of the window.

  “He must really be hurt,” she said. The guard put his hand on her shoulder.

  “He is in good hands now ma’am. Why don’t you take a seat over there and I’ll get you a drink. Would you like some water?”

  “Yes, please,” she said taking a seat by the window. The guard returned shortly with a paper cup of cold water. She sipped it, watching as the medical team began to hurry back inside with Rob on a stretcher.

  “Here they come,” she said standing up.

  They busted through the door yelling medical jargon with all the equipment sounding their ominous beeps. The guard let Judy get within a foot of the stretcher before holding her back. He let her walk along side as they wheeled him past.

  “I’m right here Rob,” she said, “be strong honey we need you.”

  She had to stop as the double doors closed in her face. She watched through the little window until they turned a corner disappearing from sight. It had been a long time since she felt alone. She thought how much, how very much, Rob was her soul mate. She cried for a moment in the arms of the guard. Then she took a seat assuring him that she would be alright and then he left to go about his rounds.

  She needed to talk to somebody so she called Rob Jr. her eldest son. She got a hold of him in his dorm room studying. He wanted to catch a plane immediately but Judy insisted that she was ok and that it was best for him to wait for news from the doctors. They both agreed that it was best not to try and reach Jenny, Ryan’s younger sister. Being on the mission field so far from home would make her feel helpless. They would reach her with the news, good or bad, after the fact. It was a difficult decision but they felt it was the most humane.

  She spent the next two hours in a special waiting room. It seemed like an eternity. She was thinking that Bob and Ryan would be coming soon. They had to hike out from the wreckage but they should be here soon. She was thinking about trying to call Sherriff Mallory when a surgeon walked in to the waiting room. Her heart began to beat rapidly. She pretended not to notice the blood on his gown.

  “Mrs. Sykes?” he asked pulling down his face mask. />
  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “Well, he’s alive.” He said with a slight smile.

  “Oh, thank God,” she cried happily.

  “He is stabilized. However, he is not completely out-of-the-woods yet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The surgeon sat down next to her and explained, “Your husband has suffered a serious head wound. His brain is swelling and the pressure must be relieved.”

  “Is he going to be alright?”

  “It’s too early to tell yet. He is going through a de-compressive craniotomy procedure as we speak. This should alleviate the pressure and allow the brain to swell without damage.”

  “I’m confused you want his brain to swell?”

  “The brain is the only organ in the body incased in bone. Therefore if it swells it can damage itself. Unlike when you sprain an ankle, and it swells, the swelling will not hurt the ankle because it swells outward unrestricted.” He paused to let his words soak in.

  “Go on,” she said.

  “By performing the procedure we remove part of his skull and allow the brain to swell without damage. We will store the bone-flap taken from his skull in his abdomen until the brain returns to normal. Then we will put it back in place and if all goes well your husband can return to a normal life.”

  “Will he be the same old Rob again?”

  “There is a very good chance that your husband will make a complete recovery. However we do not know the extent of brain damage, if any, at this time. But let’s remain optimistic, shall we?”

  “When will we know?”

  “We will know when he comes out of his coma.”

  “How long will that be?”

  “We will keep him in an induced state of coma until after we replace the bone-flap. After that, when he wakes up, is up to him. It may be days, weeks, or even months. We simply do not know as everyone is different.”

  “Oh, he’s different alright, I’ll grant you that,” she said with a smile and taking the surgeon by the hand she said, “Thank you so much for doing everything that you can.”

  “You’re welcome, and let me say you did a good job of getting him here when you did. A couple of hours later and he would not have made it.”

  “I owe that to my son Ryan.”

  “Well then tell him he did a good job,” he said starting to walk away, “and we will send someone out to tell you when your husband is in recovery. I suggest at that point you go home and get some rest, you’re going to need it.” Then he disappeared behind the double doors.

  Just when she needed them most, Ryan and Bob Mallory walked in the waiting room.

  “Thank God you’re here,” she said hugging both of them. Then the three of them sat down.

  “How is he mom?”

  “Yea, how is he?” Bob asked.

  “Well, he is going through brain surgery right now.”

  “Brain surgery?” Ryan gasped.

  “Well actually not his brain but his head. His brain is swelling so they have to cut a piece of his skull away to let it swell so the brain is not damaged.”

  “It’s quite common, I have seen it happen to accident victims before,” Bob said reassuring the both of them.

  “This is my fault,” Ryan said. “I should have brought help sooner.”

  “No! Ryan, the doctor wanted me to tell you that you did a good job in seeing that he got here when he did. He said that a couple of hours longer and we would have lost him.”

  “He told me he could hang on and he did,” Ryan said, “I did the best I could.”

  “So you talked to him when you found him? He was ok then?” Judy asked.

  Bob replied for Ryan, “They plucked him off the top of a 60 foot tall cypress tree. He was unconscious and pinned under the cabin door.”

  “He told me he could hang on before I left him mom. I don’t want to talk about this anymore until I can talk to dad. I have a lot of questions that only he can answer. Until then I’m not talking about anything.” Ryan meant what he said.

  Judy started to speak but Bob hushed her with a wave-of-the-hand behind Ryan’s back. She got the message. Now was not a good time to pressure him. It’s been a long day as Ryan could hardly stand on his feet.

  “How was the hike out?” she asked.

  “It went well,” Bob said, “Mike let us shower at the station, we grabbed a soda and a coffee, then we got here as fast as we could.”

  Ryan got up and walked slowly towards the window, a look of astonishment was on his face.

  “Will you look at that?” he said as the news vans began making a make-shift podium setting up their equipment in the parking lot. “Who do you suppose they’re here for?” he asked Bob.

  “They’re here for you Ryan, like I said, you need to think about what you’re going to say, they’re going to want a statement. It’s best to answer them now or they will be hounding you at your house until you do.”

  “How do they know about any of this?” asked Judy.

  “They have police scanners, they listen all the time, and they know every detail about the rescue.” Bob said.

  “Then why would they want a statement from me?”

  “The human element Ryan, it’s the only thing they’re missing and it’s what they want the most.” Bob said.

  The minutes turned to hours and the hours seemed like days. Then around ten o’clock that evening, after almost five hours of surgery, the doctor walked into the waiting room. They all sat up and listened intently as he took Judy by both hands. “He did very well. He is in intensive care and he has stabilized. He has a long road ahead of him, but I do believe that he will make a full recovery.” The surgeon said, reassuring Judy with a firm clasp to her hands. She collapsed sideways into Bob Mallory’s arms. Ryan joined them in a group hug.

  “All of you go home and get some rest,” the doctor said. They all nodded in agreement and after thanking the surgeon they headed for the door. Bob asked Ryan if he was ready to go outside and face the reporters. Ryan said that he was.

  “I’ll take you and your mom home. We can get her car later, or I’ll send somebody for it.” Bob said as they walked out into a throng of reporters. They had just enough time to get Judy into the car before they were mobbed with microphones and camera flashes.

  “Sherriff can we get a statement Please?”

  “Sherriff will Ryan answer some questions?”

  “Can we speak to Judy?”

  “Nobody is speaking to Mrs. Sykes!” Bob said defensively.

  “Now, if we all can head over to the podium, Ryan will give a statement,” Bob said.

  Bob took the podium first, “First off, let me just say, let’s have some respect for the family.” Bob said alluding to Judy—with camera flashes blinding him. “Rob is in intensive care as he has suffered a severe head wound but is expected to make a full recovery. We all know the real story here is this young man Ryan and the journey that he completed to save his father. I’m sure you all have lots of questions. Ryan will make a statement, and then he will take one question from each of the three news agencies here for a total of three questions, and no more.”

  What questions? Ryan was thinking as he tried to smile. He had not agreed to any questions, he was only to make a statement. He looked at Bob with a quizzical look. Bob leaned and whispered into his ear. “Give them short, general, but honest answers. It’s the best way then you will never have to do this again, trust me.”

  Bob was right. After all he has handled reporters in the past, and he knew it was best not to tell Ryan ahead of time. He knew it was best to let him answer without preparation, as long as it was only a few questions.

  Ryan stepped up to the podium, “It’s been a long day and I am really looking forward to going home and getting some well-deserved rest.” He paused squinting into the flashes. “I want to thank God for seeing me through this, for with God all things are possible. I never once lost faith in the belief that I would be standing here talking to you abou
t this rescue. To God goes the glory. Now I will take your questions.” Ryan said as he pointed to the first reporter.

  “Ryan, how did you survive? What did you eat and drink?”

  “My father kept a backpack in the plane with water and food for when he would scout a job. I survived off of that.” He said pointing to the next reporter for the second question.

  “How did you find your way without wandering around or getting lost? It seems you made a path straight to the nearest road.”

  “My father had a GPS unit and a compass in the backpack. I used it for direction.” He said pointing at the last reporter for the final question.

  “How did you manage the courage to trek six miles through that horrible swamp? Spend the night without being scared, and you did it all alone. Can you elaborate on that?”

  “I never said I wasn’t scared and I certainly was not alone.”

  They all started to murmur amongst themselves as they tried to understand what he meant by not being alone. Were there other people on the plane?

  Bob leaned in and tried to pull the microphone towards him but when he did two of the many microphones banged together and set off a high-pitched squealing which had everyone grabbing to cover their ears. “Sorry folks, but I think I can explain what Ryan is trying to say.” Ryan leaned in towards a microphone and looked at Bob.

  “It’s ok Sherriff I got it.” He said with a look well enough to assure Bob that he wasn’t going to say anything crazy like he did back at the ranger station.

  “What I mean by not being alone is this. My father once told me that each and every one of us carries within ourselves, all the courage of all our ancestors that have come before us.” It grew quiet. They listened intently and they all began to write down his words. Bob and Ryan looked at each other, content in knowing that Ryan had just taken control of the press conference.

  “It was with this courage that I found myself not to be alone, and it gave me the ability to go the six miles. Thank you and goodnight,” Ryan said as he and Bob walked away from the reporters. By the time they got to the car and shut the door they were still writing on their pads.