My Grandfather Is My Hero - Essay Example

?He is My Hero I have no doubt, when I that my grandfather remains to be one of the people who have defined the person that I am today. He was not just a grandfather to me but also my mentor and my greatest friend. Since when I was young, I always admired him and still do even though he passed on last year. He could have been old, but he was wiser and bolder than anyone else I have known. In my childhood, I might have run to him for the wrong reasons but I am glad that I did because he really taught me to be responsible. I still remember how I would get into a mischief and then run away to my grandfather’s house to avoid being punished. He might never have caned me but his advice challenged me even at a very tender age. He would always be straightforward with me and warned me that he was not going to watch me turn into a wicked child. He was a very loving man, not only towards me but also towards my grandmother. My grandfather had a great heart, to be sincere, I have not known anyone with such a heart. His face always shone with a smile even when facing hard times. Most thought his life was ever smooth but we who were around him knew the many hardships he had faced. Even when he was sick and could barely raise his head, he always preached peace and love. He would call all of us, his grandchildren and tell us how important it was to be good to other even when they were not good to us. Being a great physician, he would always inspire me by the way he dedicated himself to ensuring that he gave his best to his patients. Sometime he would wake up in the middle of the night to go attend to patients even he was not in duty, particularly when he learnt that there were emergency case. I will never forget one incidence since it really touched me. It revealed to me something I had never known about my grandfather. I would often go to see him in the hospital when I was young since he worked a few metres from our house. While I was visiting him on one of the occasions there happened to be a patient who needed a liver transplant but had not found a donor even after making requisitions from several organizations that deal with organ transplant. However, it happened that my grandfather’s liver matched with his. Nonetheless, the hospital prohibited organ donation by the staff members. Irrespective of this, my father requested the surgeon in charge to arrange for him to donate part of his liver to the almost dying man. The surgeon was reluctant and reported the matter to the hospital administrator. When the administrator learnt of my grandfather’s plan, he threatened to sack him if he decided to go on with his plan. Most thought that my grandfather would give up and forget about the whole issue but his personality could not let him do so. He demanded that he had to donate his organ, which he eventually did though he lost his job. Most of his workmates felt that he was irrational since he was helping a stranger at the expense of his job. Even the family members could not understand his actions. Several years later, I asked him why he had chosen to do this. What he told me made me realize he was a rare kind of a person. He was a bighearted hero and no one or anything could prevent him from doing what he was right. He told me that the best thing you can do is to follow your instincts if you felt what you were doing was right, since you only have one chance to live. Giving up a job to enable him donate his liver was one of the greatest sacrifices that a person could ever make. We knew he was noble and generous but not to such an extent. Those who knew him in the hospital thought he was just a physician like any other doctor, but he was more than that. You only needed to know him more to realize the kind of a person he was. When he lost his job, he decided to dedicate himself to charity work. Some thought he was ridiculous to spend his time working as a volunteer in hospitals that took care of less privileged. According to him, he was just doing the right thing. He was such a talented doctor, but he used his talent to help those who needed it most. He cared less about popularity but was more concerned on seeing that those around him lived a better life. He must have made mistakes since no one is perfect, but he always did what he though was right. Some criticized him, but ended up being his best friend when they realized how big hearted he was. He might have made enemies but I do not know of any who was strong enough to keep a grudge for a whole year. One year after my grandfather died, I was going through his collection of books, and I came across a book in which he had composed several poems. None of us had ever known that he was a poet. When I think of this, I get to realize we did not know much about my grandfather. However, the much I get to know about him from his friends, the more I realize that he was greater than I ever thought. He might never have managed to have his name recorded in the guinea book of records but he was a great man. Too selfless for a physician was how some of his friends described him. I have never understood why bad things happen to good people. However, my grandfather asked me never to bother knowing this since it would only prevent me from doing what was right. To him, what people describe as being good is only equivalent to doing what is right. He considered himself to be like anyone else, irrespective of the several extraordinary things, he did in his life. When he suffered stroke, it was hard for him to continue with his volunteer and charity activities, but he still dedicated most of his time to being with the less privileged in the society. I can only describe him as a noble, intelligent, humorous, and bold, a mentor, and the most big-hearted person I have known in my life. This is irrespective of the fact that we only met when I was three years and he died a few years later. My grandfather is for sure what I consider a legend. Read More