A Real Hero

A man from Medina became a real hero over the weekend.  He went into the water at Huntington Beach in Bay Village, Ohio, to rescue a girl about 14 years old.  He was able to get her to the rocks but didn't make it out himself.

Mr. Radke was the father of four and a devout Christian man.  He talked to friends and acquaintances about substance rather than success.  He thought life would be better gauged by how substantive it is rather than some measure of success.  I totally agree with his thinking.

Bay Village is a pretty good poke from Medina, but the man was there for a birthday party.  Others jumped into the water, too, in an attempt to help the girl and they all made it out except for him.  Some think he may have hit his head on the rocks, because he was thought to be an excellent swimmer.

Radke worked in Akron for Hitchcock Fleming, an ad agency that I passed every single day on my way home from work at The University of Akron.  . 

This man understood the really important things of life and he lived his life in service to others.  What a legacy he leaves for his family.  The children will certainly miss their father, the wife, her husband, but they know what he was doing at the end.  They know that his life had meaning right up to the last second.

There are people who lead with words and after a while those words pretty much fall on deaf ears.  There are others who lead by example.  Mr. Radke was one of the latter.

There is a passage from the Bible that I always struggled with until now that I've gotten older. 
This is it, from Matthew:

"He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it."

What it means is that we will all suffer in this life, that suffering and even persecution are part of it.  If we willingly allow the suffering and the persecution to come and offer it for God, then we truly find the meaning of life.  If we try to save ourselves from suffering and persecution, try to have a cushy, easy life, then we lose the life that we have.

Does that make any sense?  Mr. Radke sacrificed his own comfort and safety to save someone else and he confirmed his life of faith, the meaning of it.

There is a 14-year-old girl who will be told eventually that she is alive because of someone else, someone's heroism.  It will undoubtedly affect her in many ways.

Take it easy,

Karen