Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
We all sacrifice for our kids on a daily basis. Stuff like sleep and sanity are long gone. But we have got nothing on Stephanie Decker. She managed to protect her kids from the furious winds of a deadly tornado that swept through their Indiana town, and she lost her legs in the process.
I don't know whether to cheer for her or cry for her! But I can't help identifying with her: she did what she had to do to protect her kids, and I'm willing to bet she doesn't regret it a bit.
Decker apparently was thinking fast when the storm blew into town. Home alone with her two young kids -- her husband was at the local high school where he's a teacher -- she tied her son and daughter to one another with a blanket, tied the blanket to herself, then threw herself on top of the children. It sounds like a pretty incredible plan to throw together in a few minutes.
And it sounds like her plan worked perfectly. Yes, the sleep specialist lost one leg above the knee and the other just above the ankle because they'd been crushed by falling debris. But she did her job, her kids -- both of them -- walked out of that house unscathed. Considering some of the other awful stories we've heard about children caught up in the recent storms that have ravaged the Midwest of late, the safety of little Reese and Dominic Decker is just plain miraculous. Take a look at the devastation in Indiana, and you get a sense of what she was up against:
Scary, huh?
What Stephanie Decker did was brave. I'm not trying to diminish that. My heart hurts for her. But this is how you define a "win" in the Mom (or Dad) book. Most of the time we don't have to deal with something as terrifying as a deadly tornado. On an average day, for an average parent, the sacrifices are more like taking the brunt of a fall when carry a toddler -- so we get hurt instead of them. We will take our lumps, even something as devastating as lost limbs, so long as our kids make it OK.
When have you sacrificed your own safety for the sake of your kids?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
