The Snow Day

The Snow Day

September 1995 – In the Surgical Waiting Room, St. Joseph’s Hospital

Mrs. Foster had been waiting for almost three hours. “Why is it taking so long?” she thought to herself. Her nerves at her wits-end, she would alternately stand and pace the room back and forth, then sit in a chair with her hands in her lap, twisting her fingers. Finally, the door opened and the surgeon, dressed in a white hospital gown and still wearing his surgical gloves, stepped into the room.

“He’s doing fine,” the doctor said, “everything went perfectly, and you’ll be able to see him in about an hour.”

“Doctor, Doctor thank you so much. You saved my husband’s life. You saved him. What a wonderful man you are. Thank you… thank you.”

As Mrs. Foster went to give him a hug, it was obvious that the doctor was deep in thoughts of his own – too deep to really hear her. But when she put her arms around him, he seemed to snap back into reality. “I’m so glad the surgery went well,” he said, with a smile on his face. “I’m so happy I was able to help.”

September 1959- home of Ellie, David Shields and their son, Tommy

Tommy Shields sat up in bed and looked out the window. “It’s snowing”, he yelled with excitement. A number of thoughts ran through his mind. “Maybe they’ll close school today. Maybe I can earn some money shoveling sidewalks.”

Still in his pajamas, Tommy ran into the living room and turned on the radio. The local station was in the middle of announcing the schools that were closed that day. He listened closely, waiting for Northside Junior High School to be mentioned. The school closings were being announced alphabetically… “Leighton Elementary School, Montgomery Street School, Northside Junior High School, Overland Park High School…”. Tommy jumped as he heard the name Northside Junior High School. He ran to the window and watched the large flakes as they fell to the ground, covering the grass, the sidewalks and the leaves on the trees. Everything was turning white!

“What’s going on?” Ellie Shields, Tommy’s mom called out as she entered the living room. “What are you so excited about?”

“No school today,” Tommy replied. “It’s a snow day.” “I’m going to earn some money shoveling sidewalks when it stops.”

After breakfast, Tommy got dressed and for the next two hours as he waited for the snow to stop, he watched It Came From Beneath The Sea, an old Sci-Fi movie, one of his favorites. By ten o’clock the snow had stopped, and Tommy put on his boots, his warmest coat and a ski hat that covered his face except for his eyes and mouth. Then he went into the basement, grabbed a snow shovel, and stepped outside.

After shoveling his own sidewalk, Tommy told his mother that he was leaving to shovel some neighbors’ sidewalks and earn some money. He walked down the street until he found a house whose sidewalk needed shoveling. The mailbox in front of the house had the name Owen Windsor inscribed on it in bright red letters. Tommy knew Mr. Windsor just enough to say hello when they passed on the street. So, carrying his shovel, Tommy walked up the four steps to the front porch and rang the doorbell.

When no one answered he rang the bell again, and after waiting another minute, knocked on the door. As he knocked, he could feel the door open slightly. The unlocked door caught Tommy by surprise, so he pushed it open a bit more and called into the house. “Mr. Windsor are you home?”. “Mr. Windsor?”

He heard a weak voice responding from a back room, “Help me. Help me. I’m in the bedroom.”

Hearing that, Tommy pushed the door open and ran inside, trying to figure out where the bedroom was. When he heard Mr. Windsor again, he went in that direction and quickly found both the bedroom and Mr. Windsor, who was sitting on the floor, his back up against the bed, gasping for air. It was obvious that Mr. Windsor was struggling to breathe.

“Are you alright?”, was all Tommy could think to say, knowing that something was obviously wrong with him.

“I’m not. Can’t breathe. Think I’m having a heart attack.”, gasped Mr. Windsor. Tommy remembered hearing that aspirin could sometimes help when someone was having a heart attack, so he asked Mr. Windsor if he had any in the house. He also knew he had to call ‘911’, but he didn’t know which to do first.

Mr. Windsor, short of breath, told Tommy that he could find the aspirin in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Tommy decided to get the aspirin first, then call ‘911’.

He found the aspirin and then had to decide how many to give him. He’d seen his dad take as many as four at a time, so he decided to give Mr. Windsor that dosage. Tommy found a glass, filled it halfway with water, then brought the water and the aspirin to Mr. Windsor who was still sitting up against the bed but was now slouched down a bit more. Tommy could see that he was not doing well, and he was beginning to really get frightened. He set the glass down and found Mr. Windsor’s telephone. When he reached for the phone, he inadvertently dropped the four aspirin on the floor as he called ‘911’.

After two rings Tommy heard a voice say, “911 – What is your emergency?” He responded, “I’m at Mr. Windsor’s house. He is a neighbor, and I think he’s having a heart attack. Please come quickly.”

When the Emergency Operator asked him for the address, Tommy turned to Mr. Windsor, who was taking deep, short breaths as he watched Tommy on the phone.

“What’s the address here?” Tommy asked.

In a weak, raspy voice, Mr. Windsor was able to gasp, “441 North Terrace Drive.” Tommy relayed that to the operator and added, “He’s really not doing well. Please get someone here fast.”

“They are already on the way. Now stay on the line with me.” answered the operator.

“How is his complexion – is his face dark red ?” “Yes.”, answered Tommy. “Are his lips turning blue?” “I’m not sure - should I give him some aspirin?”, asked Tommy.

“Yes. give him one tablet and have him chew it so it gets into his blood stream quickly.” was the reply.

Tommy put down the phone, found one of the aspirins on the floor and gave it to Mr. Windsor, telling him he needed to chew it, not swallow it whole. “Good thing I didn’t give him the four and have him swallow them with the water,” Tommy thought to himself.

As he again picked up the phone, Tommy could hear the sirens getting closer and closer. Help was on the way – almost there.

Tommy ran to the front door, opened it, and stood on the porch as the ambulance arrived, siren blaring.

He waved to the EMT’s, yelling “In here. In here.”, as they unloaded a gurney and came running up the steps with it. Tommy told them that he had given Mr. Windsor an aspirin and waited as they asked Mr. Windsor some questions and got him onto the stretcher. Then Tommy followed them outside and watched them put the gurney in the back of the ambulance and shut the doors. Standing on the sidewalk, the last thing Tommy saw of them was the red flashing lights as the ambulance sped away, sirens blaring.

Alone again, Tommy picked up his shovel and began to clear off Mr. Windsor’s sidewalk. He hoped Mr. Windsor would be home soon and thought it would be nice for him to see a clean walkway when he arrived.

When he finished, Tommy slowly turned back towards his own house and began walking. He looked at his watch and couldn’t believe it was almost noon. He had finished shoveling his own sidewalk by eleven o’clock, so he had spent almost a full hour at Mr. Windsor’s house. It had all gone by so quickly.

Tommy got to his front door and stomped his boots on the Welcome mat to get rid of the snow. Then he took them off and went inside. When he told his mom what had happened, she brought him a hot chocolate and told him he was a hero. “If you didn’t go there and do all you did, he would have died.” she said. “I’m so proud of you.” But the next day, when he found out that Mr. Windsor had passed away at the hospital, Tommy didn’t feel at all like a hero. All he could think was, “I was so helpless. I was there, I was the only one there - and I couldn’t save him.”

Over the years, Tommy had often replayed that scene again and again in his mind. All through Junior High and High School, he remembered that helpless feeling. He even dreamed about it. He became determined to never let that happen again.

Years went by. Tommy grew up. Situations in life often affect the way you see things – the person you become. And, so it was for Tommy.

September 1995 – Back in the Surgical Waiting Room, St. Joseph’s Hospital



Standing in the waiting room with Mrs. Foster, the Doctor came out of his deep thoughts as he heard the woman’s voice. “Doctor, Doctor, thank you so much. You saved my husband’s life. You saved him. What a wonderful man you are. Thank you… thank you.”. And Dr. Tommy Shields no longer felt helpless. That one experience on that one snow day so many years ago, had changed his life forever. He still remembered the incident with Mr. Windsor, how helpless it had made him feel, and how that incident had led him to become a Doctor.