His name was Fleming

[plural]

and he was
a poor Scottish farmer.

One day,
while trying to make
a living for his family,
he heard a cry for help
coming from a nearby bog.

He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.
There, mired to his waist in black muck,
was a terrified boy,
screaming and struggling to free himself.

Farmer Fleming saved the lad
from what could have been
a slow and terrifying death.

The next day,
a fancy carriage pulled up
to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings.

An elegantly dressed nobleman
stepped out and introduced himself
as the father of the boy
Farmer Fleming had saved.

"I want to repay you,"
said the nobleman.
"You saved my son's life."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did,"

the Scottish farmer replied,
waving off the offer.

At that moment,
the farmer's own son
came to the door
of the family hovel.

"Is that your son?"
the nobleman asked.
"Yes,"
the farmer replied proudly.

"I'll make you a deal.
Let me take him and
give him a good education.
If the lad is anything like his father,
he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."

And that he did.
In time, Farmer Fleming's son
graduated from St.Mary's Hospital Medical School in London,
and went on to become known throughout the world
as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming,
the discoverer of penicillin.

Years afterward,
the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia.

What saved him?
Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman?
Lord Randolph Churchill.
His son's name?
Sir Winston Churchill.

The question you have to ask is what if the farmer would have taken money instead?

Comments

[mobley.livejournal.com]

if that is a true story,
it's a truly remarkable one.

makes you think how
your actions affect others.