When there’s so much katakata in the country and commotion on TwitterNg, it’s nice to find a post that bears none of those trademarks; a post so inspiring, it fills you with glee.
This is the story of Dr Mike and his baby sister:
(I'm going to tell a wee Twitter story, forgive the flurry of Tweets for the next few minutes please)
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
4 years later, summer of 1985, she got sick again.
Coryzal, fever, drooling, harsh breathing.
I was 9. She looked sick. Toxic.
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
Mum took her to our local GP. He examined her, told my mum it was a cold, take her home, give Calpol, she'd be fine
Mum argued. He insisted
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
Mum put us in the car
She didn't drive home
She put her foot down, drove the 40 miles straight to the nearest ED, in Raigmore @NHSHighland pic.twitter.com/aZU45Vx8s7
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
I remember how she looked and sounded in the car: sick, harsh raspy breathing, her chest working ever harder. It was scary.
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
My sister had a respiratory arrest minutes after we arrived in the Raigmore Emergency Dept; her airway completely blocked by swollen tissues pic.twitter.com/DjFaa8SlE2
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
Dad drove me home, leaving my mum and my sister deep in the heart of the hospital.
I don't think he really knew what to say to me.
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
I remember that drive home so so vividly.
We drove through a torrential rainstorm that lasted only a few minutes, then sunshine
A rainbow
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
We stopped at a petrol station.
Dad, to try to distract me, bought me a comic … this one: Transformers UK issue 24 pic.twitter.com/qc9ssXtLNS
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
It was the first Transformers story I'd ever read
Shockwave (bad guy) attacks an oil rig
A girl gets hurt, badly
It was "to be continued" pic.twitter.com/EwpTIoGTDP
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
The Queen stayed a few minutes. Her lady-in-waiting stayed longer, to get the whole story
My aunt took me to the harbour to see Brittania pic.twitter.com/AoDlTNZAEL
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
After Brittania, we went to the toy shop so I could get my sister something from me, to help her get well.
I chose this pic.twitter.com/9WKVRO9e2r
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
Slowly, my sister got better.
Extubated.
Transferred to the paediatric ward (I was more welcome there! Toyroom!)
Eventually, home! ?
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
Before she went home, the next Transformers issue came out: the girl survived too!
(Tho' she did get transformed into a cyborg. Comics, eh) pic.twitter.com/oW3bBodAT4
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
At the end, I knew two things:
I wanted to be a doctor, a paediatrician. I wanted to help people like they helped her.
And comics were ACE
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
I don't think I wavered after that, not really.
I wanted to be an astronaut too … but if I was, I wanted to be Bones McCoy. pic.twitter.com/XJWt7oTjZz
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
And comics! Comics!
Transformers lasted for years.
Simon Furman, Geoff Senior and others were heroes to 10 year old me!
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
(In one of life's weird quirks, Simon and Geoff are now drinking buddies.@james_dodsworth and I still catch each other's eye and giggle)
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
Transformers led to Secret Wars, and Secret Wars II and then, then, the X-Men. Difficult to over-estimate how much those stories meant pic.twitter.com/9rNQjp64XD
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
My baby sister all grown up ❤️@lalalinz pic.twitter.com/liclqXH6lV
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 9, 2017
Comics and medicine go well together!
My Comic-Reader's Guide to Being a New Doctorhttps://t.co/XPjPEeRkus#TipsForNewDocs pic.twitter.com/yxoagtQnkQ
— Mike (@thefourthcraw) August 11, 2017
Reactions:
Twitter at its best – we should all tell more stories, read more comics and trust the intuition of families Thank you!
— Dr Ros Taylor (@hospicedoctor) August 11, 2017
As an F2 I was inspired by your endless positivity, patience & kindness to families – now I know where it all came from! You're a legend
— Shaarna (@HeadSmartFellow) August 10, 2017
Thanks, Mike, it's another evening when it's suddenly gone all dusty here… some's got in my eyes.
?— Andrew Hartle?️? (@startle65) August 9, 2017
You're not the only one Andrew, rest assured lovely!
— ClairyLou (@HappyClairy) August 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/martinpmcevoy/status/895568480015007744
That was magnificent, thank you for sharing!
— Gavin Barrie (@jammach) August 10, 2017
So wait, your sister is a cyborg!? AWESOME!
— Lyle Frankfort Comic Con July 14th (@ironkodiak) August 9, 2017
Joke aside, glad it all turned out well & as the son of a Dr (& nurse) I admire people that go into the profession for all the right reasons
— Lyle Frankfort Comic Con July 14th (@ironkodiak) August 9, 2017
That’s a wonderful true story. Thanks for all that you, and other doctors, do. ❤️
— Janet Jenkins (@janevans35) August 9, 2017
??????????
— Neal Ashwangler (@NAshwangler) August 9, 2017
Reformed social media monitoring spirit
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