Kid, the Persons Who Seemed

¶ … kid, the persons who seemed to have inspired most of the things I do were the firefighters. Even at play-times I would dress up like them, and then ask several of my playmates to pretend that they were on a building that was caught on fire so that I may save them from it. At dinner I would tell my parents about some stories I came across during the day about firefighters -- how they carry big hoses and kill giant fires, or how they save little kids like me trapped inside a building on fire. At nighttime before going to sleep I would read my illustrated story books, mostly about firefighting, and pretend that I am one. It was pretty obvious to everyone back then that I wanted to become a firefighter one day -- it was my destiny job, they said. And while years later, I do not want to be a firefighter anymore and none of the people around me would even be able to picture me as one, I believe that the things I learned from the dream -- the "destiny" -- of becoming a firefighter can still be useful to my current career of being a doctor.

I remember that at the age of seven, I have witnessed how the firefighters successfully killed a fire that tried to eat a house in our town -- they amazed me a lot. My parents said that if they did not come -- if they were not there to stop the fire -- it could have been worse! The fire could have spread and gone to the neighboring houses and someone would have died! Right then at that moment, as the red of the huge fire that burned alight through the dark sky slowly died in the hands of those firefighters, I knew who my real super heroes were. Superman or Batman did not come to save the day -- no, not a single one from the heroes I saw on TV came. But the firefighters sure did.

As I grew up, I noticed that I was developing some kind of fascination on the different strategies people should do in case of emergency. My mother bought me a bulky, hard-leather bounded book that contained detailed descriptions of different ways of carrying unconscious people, detailed first-aid instructions, and lots of other stuffs that was very helpful. The book became my all-time favorite. It was the star of my childhood playtimes. I showed it to all my friends that visited me at home. And I read it all the time! Months later, I knew most of the things in that book at heart.

During high school, I joined the Red Cross Youth Club where we invited young students who were interested in learning how they could help during the times of calamities for trainings. One of the most memorable training we conducted -- the one I could never forget -- was the one when a seven-year-old boy looked at me with triumph in his eyes and called out, "Sir, thanks for the lessons. Now I can be a hero like my dad." I was inspired with what he said, but what really struck me was what one of my colleagues said. "That boy's father died saving a family in a fire."

It came to me right then that being a firefighter is not exactly like what I thought it was. Being a firefighter does not mean that while I am saving lives, I will have immunity from the dangers. I realized that if I wanted to save lives by being a firefighter, I would have to accept that there is a great possibility that I will die -- that my future family will be left out wondering whether things could have been different.