They say desperate times call for desperate measures. A short story of a brother’s desperate attempt to save his sister’s life.
William, a young man in his early twenties lives with his mother, sister, and brother in an isolated village far from any big town. A hard-working rural small-scale farming village where everybody knows everybody and attending church services is an unbroken Sunday morning ritual. A place where crimes of any kind are unheard of. Most people left their doors unlocked. A community where anybody can be out at 2:00 A.M. without worry. Though poverty-stricken, the village pride itself on the quiet and peaceful oasis enjoyed by the locals. A gold mine about 30 miles from the village provided the locals with job opportunities. Only a short distance from the main highway to major towns and cities, the workers from the village travel only a short distance by foot to catch a bus to work.
The oldest of the children, William had grown to be the breadwinner of the family in the absence of their father. Their father had passed away after a short illness. Two months after his death, the youngest of the family, a baby girl was born. Years after his father’s death, he lost two adolescent sisters after they both exhibited similar symptoms as his father in a matter of a year and a half apart.
In a village where the kids had to walk about two miles to the next town to attend the only elementary school around, he had to stay home until he was old enough to walk that distance. Having an education beyond elementary school was considered a luxury almost no family residing in the village could afford. So, after years of making the long walks to and from school and knowing full well that his mother couldn’t help him financially to go beyond that, he resulted in the fate of many of his peers after graduating from the school, helped in the farm.
A few years later, to support the family, he decided to work at the gold mine as a laborer. Though the pay was very bad, it allowed him and his family to live a normal village life until one day, the dread of the family started to creep back into their lives.
Without a warning, his youngest sister started getting sick with the same symptoms of the mysterious illness that tragically claimed the lives of three family members. A painful reminder of what they’ve endured many times was staring at them.
For days, he watched as their mother desperately attempted to use local herbs to heal her but to no avail. In a nation where only, a few professionals have access to the benefits of medical insurance with the rest of the population using cash for any medical care, her condition rapidly deteriorated since there wasn’t money to see a doctor.
It had been only three weeks since his sister fell ill but she had stopped taking in any food or water. The family and the entire community began to fear the worst as they watched helplessly while she slowly fades away with time ticking by.
After years of working without any other benefits except the weekly envelope containing his pay which could only afford food for the family, he borrowed money from friends. But with his sister unable to walk or sit up, the amount he received wasn’t even enough to rent a taxi to come to the village and transport her to any clinic or hospital in a big town.
After work one evening, out of desperation, he walked to one of the towns around and pleaded with a young woman in her first year of nursing school who was home for a break to come to his sister’s aid. The nurse-to-be had been one of his classmates in elementary school who had been fortunate to advance beyond that level. Fearful of losing his sister just like the other two, he hoped that any recommendation from anybody with some medical knowledge would be helpful. Seeing the sister’s dire condition and without any clue of what could be causing it, the nurse-to-be advised him that she couldn’t help and that his sister needed to be taken to a hospital in the city to get treatment as soon as possible. A harsh reality that the only thing standing in the way of his sister having a fighting chance is money.
Though he was considered one of the modeled workers, none of his superiors would help him. So, with nowhere to turn, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Knowing how much even a small piece of gold was worth, he devised a plot to get his hands on some. For days, he was filled with fears any time he contemplated his plan. Not only would he end up in jail when he’s caught but, in a society, where a good family name is put above riches or fame, he was risking the reputation of the family for decades to come or perhaps forever. But the strong desire to save his sister overpowered any consequences his actions might bringA picture containing grass, person, outdoor, arm
Description automatically generated With the help of a colleague and a confidant who also happened to know a lot about the family’s ordeal, he found a way and sneaked into a high-security area he knew contained gold with one of the warnings at the entrance boldly written ‘Do not Trespass’. In haste, he snatched what he wanted and since he knew where to go to turn it into cash, he didn’t waste time.
Two days later, just as mysterious as his sister’s disease was, he came into a large sum of money and quickly got into action. He rented a vehicle and rushed his sister with their mother to the city to one of the best hospitals in the country. He paid for all the tests ordered by the doctors on the first day and bought the prescribed medications his sister needed. He left the rest of the money with his mother for food and other expenses. Enough money to cover the cost of an urgent surgery he learned his sister needed.
He returned to his village empty-handed to be with his other siblings and back to work the next day. But it turned out that he was a lousy thief. He made noticeable mistakes that immediately raised suspicion of management. After a quick inventory, an investigation was launched when all the gold was not accounted for. The whole workforce was on edge with the confusion of missing gold with others fearing losing their jobs. Weeks of intense internal investigation turned out empty. Realizing how his action had affected others coupled with heavy guilt he couldn’t pray away, he confessed. At that point, he didn’t care much about any consequences. His sister had survived her first surgery and responding to treatment.
With his confession, he was handed to the police. The news of his arrest spread like a wildfire in his hometown and other neighboring villages with some admiring the sacrifice and others criticizing his actions. He was later convicted and sentenced to serve in prison. By the time of his incarceration, his sister had had two successful surgeries and getting back to her usual self. He later revealed that while many felt bad for him, he rested peacefully in prison with the comforting feeling of not allowing the same illness that had claimed the lives of his father and two siblings to take his little sister. The only sibling who didn’t get to meet their father, yet according to the doctors had inherited an illness from him that threatened to take her life as well.
