Going the Extra Mile

Over the last decade, social media has displayed how rare it is to find someone that is willing to put the lives of others over their own without thinking twice. Selflessness cannot be taught, it is inherent to a few very special people. For these special human beings, their own lives are important, but the safety and wellbeing of others is worth more. In the hit medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, the episode “Ring of Fire” clearly depicts selflessness by having a female medical professional who is willing to risk her life in order to save others.

In the beginning of the episode, Stephanie Edwards, an M.D. at Grey and Sloan Memorial Hospital, finds herself in a very difficult situation. A rapist, who has escaped his hospital room, crosses paths with a young female visitor, named Erin. Dr. Edwards defends, and ends up killing this man in order to protect Erin. While doing so, an explosion goes off in the hospital trapping both Dr. Edwards and this little girl in a room that ignites into an inferno. Dr. Edwards is hurt, but she immediately tends to Erin, who was also injured during the explosion. Dr. Edwards never considers her injuries or threatened life, she is more determined to help save the young girl. With no one around to help, Edwards has to lift a very heavy machine off of Erin’s leg and tend her wound in order to give her a chance at survival. Since Erin’s leg was too injured to allow her to walk, and the room was becoming too dangerous to stay in, Stephanie Edwards was forced to pick her up and carry her through the fire. In doing so, Dr. Edwards experiences further burns and injuries, but these didn’t stop her from saving Erin. Edwards carries her up many flights of stairs to reach the roof access. In doing so, Dr. Edwards loses her key card that gives her access to open the door. Edwards informs Erin that everything will be okay, but she must cover her face to reduce the risk of smoke inhalation.

After comforting Erin, Dr. Edwards then runs back into the fire to find her key card, as this is their only way to escape. After returning with the card, she and Erin are able to escape the burning building and make it out onto the roof. Once outside, Erin loses consciousness, and Stephanie resorts to performing CPR until additional help arrives. When others arrive, she emotionally tells them, “I deep-fried a rapist and I dove through a hot wall of fire. I did not do all of that so that this little girl could die”. Dr. Edwards has become so invested in Erin, that she continues to perform CPR until the little girl is stable. Despite Dr. Edwards having burns and injuries all over her body, she refuses any medical attention until she is sure that Erin will survive. As Dr. Edwards was giving giving CPR to Erin, she yelled, “I saved her, I saved her, I saved her Dr. Bailey. We Need to finish saving her right now”. No matter how hurt Stephanie was, she was not going to let this little girl die after everything they both had to endure. She was going to do everything in her will power to ensure that she would survive.

In conclusion, the media portrays women to be more likely to risk their own lives to help protect and save the life of someone else. In this episode, Grey’s Anatomy showed how one of the female doctors was willing to ignore her own injuries to try and save someone else’s life. She killed a rapist, jumped through a wall of fire, and inhaled excessive smoke just to save the life of this little girl. In reality, women tend to be more caring, nurturing, and sympathetic towards others, and will typically do whatever it takes to make sure that others are safe before themselves. Women will rarely turn away from protecting or helping someone in need. Their inherent selflessness leads them to run straight towards a threat, not away from it. They fully give every ounce of effort to keep others safe, even if it risks their own safety or life to do so.

Related posts:

On the 1st of May 2003, five women walked to Chicago’s government office wearing bathrobes. They were preparing for a demonstration; the first ‘Day of the Politically Depressed’. Onlookers began…

It is said that wealth creates wealth. But there is something which is even more important. And that is a wealthy mindset. According to a quote by Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and world\’s…

Prior to the World Cup, there was a lot of talk about how this was going to be a ‘batsmen’s World Cup’, with a lot of anticipation about a team breaching the 500 run mark. However, the bowlers have…