Daily Lesson from Life 15 October 2008

"Wed, Oct 15, 2008 The New Paper Mum perishes as shield for baby in crash

RESCUERS expected the worst. What was left of a white Toyota car was scrap metal about half a metre in height.

On Saturday morning in Shenzhen, China, a driver had lost control of a lorry carrying soil. It then flipped sideways and landed on top of the Toyota next to it. The impact crushed the car and soil was spilled all over it.

But a touching sight greeted the rescuers after the soil was scooped away and cranes lifted the lorry.


What they saw was a woman leaning over from the driver's seat to form a protective shield over her child who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

The mother, who is in her 30s, was dead. But the baby girl, who's about a year old, was alive.

The mother probably bore the brunt of the crash. The air trapped between her body and her baby probably also helped save the girl from suffocating beneath the spilled soil. As a result, the girl suffered only from minor wounds on her head, reported Shenzhen's Daily Sunshine newspaper.

Cheers erupted among the rescuers as she was carried out of the wreck after the two-hour rescue operation. She was rushed to the hospital for a thorough checkup."

A very touching story tinged with sadness as 2 adults died from this accident. The power of mother's love is without condition and instinctive. May the little girl grow up free from guilt and apply herself as best she can.

Lessons for me are:

1. the most powerful form of love is self-sacrifice. Not many of these around as giving up your life for someone else is most difficult. For the mother, it is instinctive and unconditional!;

2. in an accident where death occurred, it is the most difficult for the living to accept as it was so sudden. The living will need help to cope with the loss and professional help hopefully are close at hand;

3. the ultimate key to unlock the sorrow and prevent slipping into depression is to be able to let go. To focus on living for the living child. Remember the dead, talk to them, and move on. It will not be easy.

May we not have such tragedy to know that mother's love is instinctive and unconditional. We should all appreciate our parents who are still with us!