The Daily Motivator

[Guest guest]

All in a Day's Work

By Naomi Rhode

Emergency-room personnel transported him to the cardiac floor. Long hair,

unshaven, dirty, dangerously obese and a black motorcycle jacket tossed on

the bottom shelf of the stretcher - an outsider to this sterile world of

shining terrazzo floors, efficient uniformed professionals and strict

infection-control procedures.

Definitely an untouchable!

The nurses at the station looked wide-eyed as this mound of humanity was

wheeled by - each glancing nervously at my friend Bonnie, the head nurse.

" Let this one not be mine to admit, bathe and tend to... " was the pleading,

unspoken message from their inner concern.

One of the true marks of a leader, a consummate professional, is to do the

unthinkable. To touch the untouchable. To tackle the impossible. Yes, it

was Bonnie who said, " I want this patient myself. " Highly unusual for a

head nurse - unconventional - but " the stuff " out of which human spirits

thrive, heal and soar. As she donned her latex gloves and proceeded to

bathe this huge, filthy man, her heart almost broke. Where was his family?

Who was his mother? What was he like as a little boy?

She hummed quietly as she worked to ease the fear and embarrassment she knew

he must have been feeling. And then on a whim she said, " We don't have time

for back rubs much in hospitals these days, but I bet one would really feel

good. And, it would help you relax your muscles and start to heal. That is

what this place is all about - a place to heal. "

All in a day's work. Touching the untouchable.

His thick, scaly, ruddy skin told a story of an abusive lifestyle. Probably

lots of addictive behaviour, to food, alcohol and drugs. As Bonnie rubbed

the taut muscles, she hummed and prayed. Prayed for the soul of a little

boy grown up, rejected by life's rudeness and striving for acceptance in a

hard, hostile world.

The finale - warmed lotion and baby powder. Almost laughable - such a

contrast on this huge, rugged surface. As he rolled over onto his back,

tears rolled down his cheek. With amazingly beautiful brown eyes, he smiled

and said in a quivering voice, " No one has touched me for years. " His chin

trembled. " Thank you. I am healing. "

In a day when we have increasing concern about the appropriateness of touch,

Bonnie taught this hurting world to still dare to touch the untouchable

through eye contact, a warm handshake, a concerned voice - or the physical

reassurance of warmed lotion and baby powder.