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Arms and Legs for Others

Bob Butler lost his legs in a 1965 land mine explosion in Vietnam. He returned home a war hero. Twenty years later, he proved once again that heroism comes from the heart.

Butler was working in his garage in a small town in Arizona, USA on a hot summer day; when he heard a woman’s screams coming from a nearby house. He began rolling his wheelchair toward the house but the dense shrubbery wouldn’t allow him access to the back door. So he got out of his chair and started to crawl through the dirt and bushes.

“I had to get there”, he says. “It didn’t matter how much it hurt”. When Butler arrived at the pool there was a three-year-old girl named Stephanie Hanes lying at the bottom. She had been born without arms and had fallen in the water and couldn’t swim. Her mother stood over her baby screaming frantically. Butler dove to the bottom of the pool and brought little Stephanie up to the deck. Her face was blue, she had no pulse and was not breathing.

Butler immediately went to work performing CPR to revive her while Stephanie’s mother telephoned the fire department. She was told the paramedics were already out on a call. Helplessly, she sobbed and hugged Butler’s shoulder.

As Butler continued with his CPR, he calmly reassured her. Don’t worry, he said. “I was her arms to get out of the pool. It’ll be okay. I am now her lungs. Together we can make it”.

Seconds later the little girl coughed, regained consciousness, and began to cry. As they hugged and rejoiced together the mother asked Butler how he knew it would be okay. The truth is, “I didn’t know”, he told her. “But when my legs were blown off in the war, I was all alone in a field. No one was there to help except a little Vietnamese girl. As she struggled to drag me into her village, she whispered in broken English, ‘It okay. You can live. I be your legs. Together we make it’ “. Her kind words brought hope to my soul and I wanted to do the same for Stephanie.

There are simply those times when we cannot stand alone. There are those times when we need someone to be our legs, our arms, our friend.

Author Unknown

{ 19 comments… add one }
  • Paranthaman.R September 5, 2013, 6:10 am

    Really this gives me how to make others courage in the situation which they feel unhappy. Really good to make others happy.

  • Shaheryar March 21, 2013, 2:04 am

    It takes courage and determination to move from a zero to a hero!

  • Ezekiel mudi March 3, 2013, 9:29 am

    It takes courage and determination to move from a zero to a hero!

  • Noeme D. Catayas March 1, 2013, 2:38 am

    A touching story as well as life teaching…

  • Padmaja February 27, 2013, 11:52 am

    Really, a heart touching story. I’ll share it with my students.

  • Joy February 20, 2013, 11:01 am

    Wow! I loved it,..a good example of doing to others what you would want them to do to you- God help us love each other the way you love us.

  • Asheet February 19, 2013, 11:43 pm

    Wow ! Wonderful……great….this world is still not devoid of good people….goodness still exists……great story.

  • Aye Chan Aung February 19, 2013, 11:30 am

    A heart touching story… I am speechless… Thanks.

  • Mosopefoluwa February 19, 2013, 9:03 am

    Just knowing the right words saves the day. Thanks for this

  • Neha February 19, 2013, 6:08 am

    It’s so encouraging & motivational. I have already shared it with my friends.

  • Anjani February 19, 2013, 5:02 am

    Very inspiring ……thank you very much, for sharing with us…

  • Bridgette February 19, 2013, 2:46 am

    What can i say…im touched…

  • Jabeena February 19, 2013, 1:43 am

    Strong well power is necessary at any situation…very nice story…thanks for sharing….

  • Arati February 19, 2013, 1:30 am

    So touchy ! GOD, always give me the strength and courage to be somebody’s arms or legs or spirit.

  • Lea February 18, 2013, 11:41 pm

    Awesome!!! Thanks and GOD BLESS…:)

  • Maya Leong May May February 18, 2013, 8:48 pm

    Great! Love each other……

  • Zoya February 18, 2013, 3:07 pm

    Thank you very much, it’s very educational and realistic, I will share it with my students.

  • Rajni Gohil February 18, 2013, 2:57 pm

    Thanks for very inspiring story. Albert Einstein rightly said “Only the life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

    Helping others in a selfless way is surest way to please God/mother nature. Martin Luther King also said: Other is not other but he is my brother. So it becomes our duty to help others.

  • Emily hernandez February 18, 2013, 2:30 pm

    So moving I love this story so much I shared it so every one else can see how beautiful this story is.

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