Life's Surprises
Posted by: tz8cy5 <tz8cy5@...>
trying to seek out a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming
from a nearby boy. He dropped his tools and ran to the boy. 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 home. "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.