The surgeon finished washing up in the stainless steel sink outside the operating room. The nurse assisting him during the operation told him that the courier from the organ transfer service had arrived and was waiting in the hallway. He turned to her and said, “Make the call, and let the transplant team know the heart is packed and ready for transport and will be on its way within 20 minutes”.
He had just performed one of the most gut wrenching procedures a doctor has to perform, the harvesting of a 10 year old child’s heart who died after being hit by a car. If all goes according to plan, this heart will save the life of another child. The fact that a child’s life will be saved with the new heart does not make this any easier, knowing that another child had to die first.
Everyone in the hospital knew that no matter how this ultimately turns out, at least one family was grieving the loss of a child, and the goal today was to prevent another family from going through the same heart break.
The recipient, a 10 year old boy, had been on a waiting list for close to a year and doctors knew that without a new heart, the boy would likely die within a month. All the members of the transplant team were satisfied that the boy had passed all medical criteria, making him eligible for the transplant.
The heart was prepared for transport and once it was placed in a cooler and packed with ice, the clock was ticking to get this life saving gift to the surgical team two hours away who would complete the delicate transplant operation. The heart must be delivered to the surgical team in the maximum four to six hour window in order for the organ to survive!
The cooler was immediately carried to a waiting ambulance by the specially trained medical transit courier who would be responsible for making sure the organ arrived in time to the waiting transplant team.
The ambulance would receive a police escort to the airport where a jet was already warmed up and the pre-flight check completed.
The control tower was fully aware of the importance of this mission, and began the process of directing all incoming planes in the immediate area into a holding pattern so the jet could take off as soon as the heart arrived from the hospital.
Entering the jet, the two lone occupants, the pilot and the courier said a brief hello and sat down in their respective seats and buckled up. In moments, the jet would taxi towards the assigned runway, and radio the control tower that they were ready for takeoff.
This was the first time either man had met and as soon as they were given the okay to take off and reach their cruising altitude, they introduced themselves.
Shaking hands, the captain introduced himself as Bob Hamilton and the medical courier replied, “Nice to meet you Bob, I’m Parker Knox”.
By this time, the heart had been out of the host donor and on ice for 30 minutes. Their destination from wheels up to touch down was now approximately one and a half hours away.
Once they were settled in both men chatted away to pass the time. Bob asked, “So Parker, have you done many of these runs before?”
No was Parker’s reply. “I’m just filling in for a co-worker who works at my hospital after he came down with a cold. You can’t risk contaminating the heart with any germs so he begged off today’s run. I’m actually a medic, but trained and certified to transport medical tissues and organs. I just carry the cooler, I’m not the one doing the hard part like operating,” he said with a sly smirk.
Bob asked, “So where are you from Parker?”
“Are you familiar with the Fort Drum area in New York at all?”
Bob came back “No sorry, that’s not a place I’ve ever been to”
Parker replied, “I’m originally from a small town called Carthage, but I left there for something a little bigger, however, I still have some family there.”
Just then Parker asked “Do I smell coffee? I’d love a cup if there’s any going”
Bob said, “Sure, I made some in the back while I was waiting for you. Help yourself, grab me one too please. Make it one cream and 2 sugars. You’ll find the fixins’ in the fridge.”
Parker got up out of his seat and went back to the galley and got a couple of cups for the two of them and returned to the cockpit.
The two spent the rest of the flight chatting away talking about sports, life in general and raising kids. Parker even talked about how he used to sing “Hush Little Baby” to his little girl and Bob shared the fact that he made pancakes for his son every Saturday morning. The time raced by and the next thing they knew it was time to check in with air traffic control as they approached their destination.
Bob spoke into the mic, “Air traffic control, this flight MF189 requesting landing instructions.”
The response was, “Welcome MF189, we’ve been expecting you. Be advised that we have strong wind gusts building and coming in from the West, creating crosswinds and some reports of downdrafts”
“Thank you tower, we will get down as soon as possible before things get any worse.” was Bob’s reply
“Okay flight MF 189, you are cleared to land when ready. Additional traffic has been paused. Please reduce altitude to 2000 feet and proceed to heading 090.”
Once they slowly reduced their altitude the controller came back with, “Wind gusts are 50 knots from the West. Please turn to heading 145 degrees to runway 1A and continue your approach.”
Bob followed the instructions to the letter and when he was ready he asked for permission to proceed with his final approach.
“Flight MF189, you are cleared to land” was the reply.
As Bob slowly brought the jet down, raised the nose of the plane up and activated flaps, they were just 50 feet above the runway when a strong crosswind made it feel like the plane was a bucking bronco and bouncing up and down, and about to tip over in mid-air.
Parker had a sense what was about to happen and reached behind his seat where the cooler with the heart in it was, and pulled it up to the front of his seat and placed it on the floor between his legs.
Very nervous now, but trying to lighten the moment, Parker called out to Bob, “If we make it out of this alive, I’m going to call you Buckaroo Bob!”
Focusing on holding the cooler tight, he squeezed it with his legs as hard as he could to keep the cooler and its contents safe.
Back and forth the plane swayed. Bob fought back against the winds as best he could, trying to anticipate which direction the plane would be in from moment to moment, but as hard as he tried, he was no match for one final gust of wind that flipped the plane on its back just a few feet off the ground.
The jet skidded on its roof for a few hundred feet down the runway, with the metal skin of the plane grinding on concrete creating a fireworks like shower of sparks.
Everything, including both men, was now upside down. It didn’t take long for the plane to catch fire as the fuel was ignited by the sparks on the runway.
As the plane came to a rest on the tarmac, Parker, dazed after hitting his head on the glass from the side window, he looked over at Bob and saw that he was bleeding profusely from his head and appeared to be unconscious.
With the flames getting larger and closer to the front of the plane, Parker had to make a split second decision what to do first, save Bob, or the cooler. Looking up towards his feet, he could see the cooler with the heart was somehow still intact but upside down. His first thought was, is the heart still okay?
Next he had to decide what to do first, get the cooler out of and away from the burning plane, or try to save Bob before he burned to death.
In the fog of the moment, he could hear the distant sound of emergency vehicles racing towards them.
He managed to free himself from his harness, push open his door and lower the cooler down towards him. Somehow he managed to twist his upside down body out of the cockpit door.
Running as quickly as he could, he placed the cooler on the grass beside the runway, and immediately turned to rush back towards the burning plane. Entering the open plane door he had just exited from, he grabbed Bob’s shoulder harness and tried to remove it, but Bob’s full body weight made that impossible. Fortunately he remembered seeing a fishing knife in the side pocket of the door. He quickly positioned his body where he could stop Bob’s body from crashing down to what was the roof of the upside down plane when he cut him out of the harness.
Just then the emergency crews arrived and made sure there was no one left inside the plane as the fire truck sprayed fire suppressant foam on the entire plane.
An ambulance arrived moments later and loaded the unconscious Bob, Parker and the cooler into it and raced to the local hospital where the transplant surgical team was waiting for the heart.
Even before the ambulance arrived, news of the plane crash had already made it to the people inside the hospital where shock and panic ensued. The question on everyone’s mind, did the heart survive the crash, knowing that this was that little ten year old boy’s last chance at life?
Once the ambulance arrived, they first drove around the back where Parker with the cooler were led into the hallway as the transplant team rushed to retrieve the cooler.
Bob was taken to the emergency room and immediately wheeled into the trauma center.
The transplant team opened the cooler and determined the heart was undamaged and they could proceed with the transplant operation.
Parker stood in the hallway and waited by himself until he heard they were prepping the boy for the life saving procedure.
A hospital orderly approached Parker and told him that he was there to escort him to an examination room to be checked out for any injuries he might have received during the crash.
The orderly said, “I hear you're a real hero, saving the life of your pilot and preventing any damage to the heart. That is impressive Sir! By the way, there’s already some people here from the media who want to interview you. They’re saying it's a miracle you both came out of that plane alive.”
Parker didn’t say anything and just followed him to an examination room and was handed a blue hospital gown. The orderly closed the door behind him to give Parker some privacy while he changed.
Twenty minutes later the same orderly was sent to check on Parker, but when he opened the examination room, the blue gown lay on the untouched bed, and Parker was gone.
SIX MONTHS LATER
Bob had recovered from his injuries during the crash. He was very curious as to what happened to Parker. Specifically, where and more importantly why, did he bolt from the hospital. There were no clues whatsoever, he just vanished. These questions haunted Bob and for good reason. It didn’t make any sense at all.
Recalling the conversations the two of them had during their short time together in the plane, the only clue as to where he might find Parker was that he said he used to live in a very small town in Upstate New York, so that seemed like a reasonable place to start his search. Bob was determined to track him down and if he needed help, he would offer whatever help he could.
Was Parker involved in some sort of criminal activity and hiding from the law? That might explain why he didn’t want to talk to the media?
Was he hiding from financial problems? Bob could offer him some assistance there as well, after all Parker did save his life!
For the months that Bob lay in the hospital, finding Parker became an obsession with him.
He began his search by finding the small village Parker said he once lived in.
Located in the beautiful region of Upstate New York, the village of Carthage with a population around 3000 people, located about 9 miles from Fort Drum, New York on State Route 3.
This had to be a good start with so few people living there, and where best to start than finding a local bar, preferably one where everyone knows everyone.
It didn’t take long to find a local watering hole. Bob entered, ordered a beer and started a conversation with the barmaid.
“Can I ask you a question? I am trying to find an old friend who used to live here in Carthage.”
“Sure was the reply, as long as you’re not a cop, tax collector or a hitman”, she said with a smile.
“No, I’m just a guy trying to find the guy who saved my life in a plane crash.”
The barmaid replied, “Well you must be telling me the truth because no one would ever think to come up with a lie like that. What’s this guy’s name?”
“His name is Parker Knox. Ever heard of him?”
She replied, “No I’m afraid not, but I’ve only lived here in Carthage for about 10 years. You might want to talk to one of those older guys over by the pool table and ask them. Those guys have been here forever.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that.” Bob paid for his beer and left her a ten dollar bill as a tip.
He walked across the barroom floor, introduced himself, and asked if any of the guys playing pool ever heard of Parker Knox.
They all looked at each other and one said, “Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in years! I don’t know him, but there used to be a family by the name of Knox who lived out on State Route 3 about a mile out of town, you can’t miss the place. It’s a big blue house with a barn and horses in the front yard. They might know that fellow you’re looking for.”
Bob thanked the guys and ordered a round of beers for them all, and headed out the door to find the blue house with horses in the front yard.
It didn’t take more than ten minutes to locate the house and as he pulled into the gravel driveway, he noticed a small boy playing on some swings in the side yard.
Knockin on the door, a lady, who was in her mid-thirties, answered and he introduced himself as Bob Hamilton and explained why he was searching for Parker Knox.
She introduced herself as Marla Knox.
Bob continued and explained the whole story about the plane crash and how this fellow, Parker Knox saved his life and he wanted to find him.
Marla asked, “How old was this Parker fellow?”
Bob replied, “I’m not really sure, but I would guess he would be around 30 years old, why do you ask?”
Shocked, she came back with, “ You had me going there for a second, but it can’t be the Parker Knox, I knew.”
Bob asked, “Why do you say that?”
Marla continued, “Dad’s name is Parker Knox, but it can’t be him.”
Bob asked, “Why?”
Marla explained, “Because my Dad died 25 years ago. He was killed in a military training accident. If he was alive today, he would be 69 years old, so this can’t be the Parker Knox you’re looking for, sorry.”
Bob agreed and as he was about to leave, he looked around Marla’s living room when spotted a photo on the wall that stunned him. It was a picture with a group of about a dozen soldiers in military fatigues, with one man who looked about 30 years old, standing in the middle of the group.
He asked Marla, “Who is that man in the middle of the picture?”
She immediately said, “That’s my Dad when he was training as a medic in the army reserves.”
Bob shouted, "That’s him! That’s Parker, I know it!”
Marla instantly grew very afraid and said, “I don’t know who you are, other than what you told me at the front door, but what you’re saying is impossible. My Dad has been dead for twenty five years! This is nuts, and you’re scaring me. I want you to leave right now!”
Fearing that Bob could be dangerous with his crazy ideas, she started to panic and her first instinct was to protect her son and not allow Bob to be alone with him for a single second!
Running to the side door of the house, she called out, “Billy! Billy David Knox, get in this house right this minute!”
As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Bob screamed, “ Your son’s name is Billy Knox? Did he undergo a heart transplant six months ago?”
Marla was really getting worried now? How would he know that?
She looked like a wild bear that was going to do anything to protect her young son from this danger in front of her.
She screamed, “Get out now before I call the police!” I have a gun and I’m not afraid to use it!”
Bob said, “Hold on please, let me explain! Do you remember when your son was about to have his heart transplant, that the plane carrying the heart, crashed and burned on the runway?”
Marla, shaking now, stopped and said, “Yes”.
Bob continued, “I was the pilot of that plane that delivered the heart for your son’s transplant, and it was Parker who was with me on that flight. He saved my life that day when we crashed and the plane flipped over on its back. You have to believe me Marla!”
Marla was now starting to calm down a little now and listen to what Bob was saying. He continued, “Tell me if this sounds familiar? Do you remember your Dad singing to you when you went to bed every night? “He always sang the same song, right? It was Hush Little Baby, right?”
Marla’s face turned white. She knew this was something very few people would know. She heard what Bob was saying, but was struggling to make sense of it all, but couldn’t deny that it was true. But how could it be? Her Dad was long dead and Bob is trying to get her to believe that he was with him on that flight!
As instructed, young Billy came into the house and walked into the living room where Marla and Bob were seated.
Marla, not wanting to confuse or upset Billy said, “Billy, this is Mr. Hamilton. He is visiting us today. He was a friend of your grandpa. Now I know you never met your grandpa, but do you remember talking about him and how he was in the army?”
Billy looked down at his shoes, somewhat confused and nodded his head and said yes.
Bob looked at Billy and told him that his grandpa was a hero and a very brave man and he should be really proud of him.
Bob then asked Billy “Your Mom tells me that you had an operation. How do you feel now?”
Quietly, Billy answered, “I feel much better now than before I was in the hospital.”
Then Billy asked Bob how he met his grandpa, Bob explained that he was a pilot of a small plane and he met Parker on a plane ride one day where they had some really rough weather, and the plane was bouncing all around. Bob thought it best that he leave the story right there and not say any more details about that day which might scare Billy.
Billy listened intently and then an odd look came over his face as if he was thinking and searching for something in the back of his mind, when he said, “Mr. Hamilton, I’ll bet you’re a really good pilot. I’m going to call you Buckaroo Bob!”
Copyright 2024 Kenneth Lane Smith