Strangers Take the Time to Save a Life

Lauryn Lax in the center wearing blue.

At a YMCA in Nashville, Tennessee members working out at the gym were concerned about Lauryn Lax's appearance. She was dangerously thin and they knew that she was anorexic. People who saw Lax could not help but feel as if they had to do something. Most people would have turned and looked the other way but these people could not just ignore the problem at hand.

First they secretly contacted Lax's parents who confirmed she was anorexic and had been since the ago of 10. They told the people from the YMCA that they had tried treatment several times and there was just no use. At that point you would think that the YMCA members would just let things be, but instead they plotted their own intervention. They feared that she would one day not be there because they did not take the time to help her.

One day when Lax was going to go do her workout when the YMCA members surrounded her car. They told her that they were taking her to the hospital. Lax protested against them and started to cry.

Even though these people barely knew her they told her that they were not going to give up on her, and she was lucky they didn't. If they had given up on her she would have died. Not long after they brought her to Vanderbilt Medical Center, her heart was beginning to fail. Doctors almost had to insert a pacemaker.

Thanks to the YMCA members she survived and made the decision to seek treatment. Three years later Lax is 36 pounds heavier and is a healthy, new person.

Today, Lax graduated with a doctorate in occupational therapy. She plans to devote her life to helping others with eating disorders and is thankful to those who stopped to help her instead of looking the other way.

This just goes to show how we can make a difference by choosing to do something instead of ignoring the people who need our help. People need to work together because if they work alone they will feel alone. This world does not have to an "every man for himself" ordeal. Instead we can work hand in hand and make this world a better place. 

It does not take much to help somebody. Even the smallest things can make a difference. All in all an act of kindness can go a long way. It can even save a life.