She Lifted A Finger
Reader's Digest US|May 2018

He walks up to her, in dire need of medical attention. She, a young mother, is already feeling overwhelmed. But after she reaches out to this person in need, there is no turning back.

Kim Porter
She Lifted A Finger
I SIT ON THE STOOP in front of my friend’s house. She lives at the top of a ridiculously steep hill. Halfway up, my four-year-old daughter, Colette, collapsed in mutiny, refusing to take another step, and I had to lug her the rest of the way on my back. And now my friend is late, and we’re stuck here waiting as the 4 p.m. San Francisco fog rolls in, kicking up gritty wind and making the temperature plummet.

My friend’s street is so traumatically narrow and steep that drivers, upon discovering it’s a dead end, have to back down the hill because there’s no place to turn around. I know because that happened to me once, which is why I walked here today.

I see a man approaching, and I think, Oh, great. Now what?

“Por favor. Call 911,” the man says. “Finger. Cut.” He holds up his blood streaked forearm. With his left hand, he is clenching a wad of handkerchiefs around his right pinkie.

“No. Have. Phone,” I say, as if English is also my second language.

“Have phone,” he says, and dips his chin toward his front pants pocket. I don’t want to stick my hand in there, but the blood does look real. In his pocket, I find a flip phone. I slip it out and step back out of arm’s reach, then call 911.

The operator answers, and after I give her the address, I say, “I’m here with this guy, and he says he cut his finger.” 

“Is it bad?” the operator asks. 

“Is it bad?” I ask him.

“Sí.” “It’s bad,” I tell her. “Did he cut it off?” Now, there’s a question I hadn’t thought of. “Did you cut it off?”

“Sí.” He sighs, relieved someone finally understands the gravity of his situation. 

“Yes. He cut it off.” 

This story is from the May 2018 edition of Reader's Digest US.

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This story is from the May 2018 edition of Reader's Digest US.

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