A Story Worth Repeating

Today's news is full of negativity, but occasionally a story comes through that shows real human compassion, even from the corporate world.

The story revolves around a seven year old girl named Jada Harper with an inoperable malignant tumor in her brain, which has recently caused her to fall into a coma. Jada is hooked up to a respirator and may wake up, but she will have brain damage. Doctors have given her three months to live at this point, so her family wants her to spend as much time with them as possible before she dies. Her mother, Wanda, faced a problem. The only way to get Jada back home would be to fly her, as there were issues transporting her by ambulance. Not only were air ambulances expensive (ranging from $10,000 to $40,000), but nobody was able to transport Jada from Houston, Texas, to Arkansas.

Enter Federal Express. Starting with nothing more than a discussion between a family friend and the principal of Jada's elementary school and a telephone call to a determined employee, FedEx arranged for Jada to be flown home to be with her family during her final months. As much as people like to bash corporations, this is one time even the anti-corporate side would have to admit FedEx did a good thing here. It didn't take an act of Congress or a Presidential edict to do it, either. All it took was humanity and determination to move a mountain, or in this case a young girl.