Joseph Reid EBA
Born in Germany on October 22, 1968
with daughter Frankie
My
son is an earthbound angel. He is now 36 yrs. old. Joseph is the
youngest of twins. His twin brother is healthy and strong. I was
living in Soest Germany with my husband and daughter and twin sons
as a military family Canadian Troops tour) When my daughter was
three years old, we took her to a British military hospital in
Iserlohn to have her tonsils and adenoids out, we brought the twins
along and would stop back the next day to pick our daughter up after
her surgery, In the mean time we stopped in at a friends for coffee
and on route home, my son (Joseph) began running a fever, as we
arrived home(60 km.) He was flushed and in distress, I forgot to
mention that he was only 13 months old. It was November 1969, I
don't remember the exact day. Joseph was crying and not able to bend
his legs and a rash had begun, he was clearly experiencing head
pain, I could not get a spoon of water to his lips ,he was vomiting
and I scooped him up and ran down the street to the military medical
clinic. upon arrival I was instructed to take a number, my child is
very sick i said, I rushed through the doors and pushed my way into
an occupied treatment room where the doctor was talking to a woman
patient. Out I said, as i cried , my baby needs help. Both looking
surprised, the woman left and the doctor after examining Joseph
said, "There seems to be an irritation on his spine" ill call an
ambulance, I didn't wait for the ambulance, I scooped my son into my
arms and ran all the way home( approx 3 blocks) I called up to my
husband as I was climbing the 3 three flights of stairs "Hurry,
Please Hurry!!" and a neighbor sat with my other son. My husband
drove so fast in our Mercedes Benz. that he even drove up on a
sidewalk at one point to pass cars. Upon entering the military
hospital where we had just left our little 3 yr. old daughter. The
doctor came rushing to meet us while rolling up his sleeves, he took
Joseph from my arms and into a room where they did a spinal tap and
placed him into a cold bath ...opened the windows and frantically
tried to lower his temp which at this time was 106 My poor baby
curled up into a ball and was so tiny and helpless. But they told me
he had spinal meningitis, and contracted it as a side effect of
complications to German measles, The next 24 hrs. were critical and
we paced and went to the chapel to pray. God was with him that day,
and he heard my cry for help. Three weeks later, my earth angel came
home for Christmas,. Our military priest prayed with us and blessed
his crucifix for us as we thanked God for our son. He is now 6'5"
tall and a strong family man. But I will never forget the trauma and
knowing that two minutes later would have taken him heaven bound.
Thank you for reading my story. Grateful mother in Canada.
The music here is (You Are Not Alone)