Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-07-26
Good Samaritan

III " "a 0dAAAAOAA 4COCAAJ
tribute to the horSe-and-
buggy doctors ended on a
note of sadness that today'S
"hurly- burly" has ruled out
time for the human touch in
today's medicine. Our recent
experience impels me to
write.
On July IL our family was
mentioning in Rocky Noun
tain National Park. We had
just hiked through an area
Of alpine tundra of special
interest to my biology-teacher
husband and were headed
back to the highway where
with many others on each
side Of the road, our car was
parked. Impatiently, our six
year-old daughter Jill raced
ahead, forgot" our casual
warning not to cross the road,
and was struck by a car.
Shouts from the road at
tracted my attention and I
probably broke the tundra
sprint record getting to her
side. The most fervent
prayer Of my life was hardly
uttered when I looked up to
see the gentle and authorita-
tive hands Of a doctor ex-
aiming our child. Out for
Sunday drive with his fam
lily. he had just come upon
the scene. Not only did this
doctor ride with us out of
the park-it was urgent to
get her down from the 10000
foot altitude-but he stayed
with us till q doctor came to
a little local clinic, conferred
with him in a closer exami-
nation of Jill's condition,
which. mercifully, appeared
splendid.
He suggested I might wish
to put her in a Denver hospi-
tai for observation in case
injuries might be present. He
gave us the address of the
hospital where he works as
pathologist, outlined the best
route to Denver, and in
structed us to call him when
we got there. But on the road
back, his car overlook ours
and he guided us right to the
hospital, arranged for a bed
for Jill, called a neurologist,
stood by for his verdict
(favorable) and finally, after
he had gone home at IL pm,
called me at the hospital to
say that If my husband and
other two daughters hadn't
found a motel, he could put
them up.
For two days a parade of
top-notch specialists checked
our little girl with loving
concern. I pondered what
more could possibly have
been done had it been Caro-
line. Our doctor asked me
if we would be strapped for
money so far from home;
when I assured him our
checking account would be
adequate, he said to give his
name to the cashier if I had
any trouble cashing checks.
When we were discharged
to begin our 2,000-mile trip
home I tried to express our
thanks and assured him that
we would pay his bill with a
blank check, that we couldn't
possibly pay enough to show
how much we appreciated
his help. that we would con-
slider any charge he made too
low. He replied that we didn't
owe him a cent, that he was
salaried and not in general
practice, that he wasn't tout
anything" He had freely
given up about seven hours
Of his Sunday recreation,
had taken a chance on a
lawsuit at the hands Of
greedy opportunists, and had
shown the concern Of a de-
voted relative toward the
plight Of total strangers.
Our family has lived in
three different communities
and in each we have "be-
longed to" a wonderful fam
lily doctor who cared about us
as human beings. There may
be a handful of selfish medi-
cal businessmen, but the
spirit Of medical practice in
our land is overwhelmingly
that Of selfless service, and I
thank God for It'll
Phyllis Davenport.