The Angel Angle Issue #03
If it isn’t apparent I have been traveling a lot lately, here’s another short story that happened in the Kansas City airport at 5:30 am on my way to Memphis for work a couple weeks ago.
I had just cleared security and made my way into a bookstore to snag some snacks for the day’s travels. I overheard some employees conversing, one of whom caught my attention enough I thought, “This lady is really lively for it being so early in the morning. We need more of that energy in this world. Good for her.”
Seconds later I heard one of the employees she was talking to say, “Stacy, you’re the best employee this airport has.”
Not that everyone doesn’t deserve an angel pin but this sort of situation screams ANGEL PIN TIME!
I turned around and introduced myself to Stacy and told her I had something for her. She held out her hand and I placed a gold angel pin in her palm. I gave some to the other employees standing there as well. The employees loved it but Stacy quickly told me she wears an angel around her neck for her son who is in the Navy. I handed her another pin to send him as I learned he would be shipped off for another tour soon.
Here’s me and Stacy.
I gave Stacy my card and told her to reach out to me so I could learn a little more about her son and why she loves angels. She emailed me back last week to tell me about her son, Petty Officer 3rd Class Larry Earhart, who she affectionately refers to as “my hero.” He works on the flight deck and is responsible for helping launch and recover aircraft. Stacy and her son share a very strong bond, one that became even stronger when Stacy lost her mom to covid. They believe she is their angel who with God’s help, is guiding, protecting, and leading them.
I thought what Stacy wrote me was worth sharing in its entirety. I’ve also included some pictures she sent me.
This month’s SHOUT is one of the craziest things I’ve ever witnessed in my life.
Meet Kayla Bing, born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, along with her four brothers, and her mom and dad. I imagine growing up with four brothers toughened Kayla up quite a bit and it’s likely why she handled everything thrown her way Saturday, October 21st at the Kansas City International Airport.
I was in line to board my flight to Vegas with my best friend Mikey and we struck up a conversation with the group behind us. It happened to be Kayla, her husband Eric, his sister Amy, and Amy’s husband Christian. They were heading to the same festival we were. We boarded the flight and as often happens, we hurried up just to wait in the jet bridge. I turned around to see if Mikey had boarded yet and all of a sudden I heard, “Is anyone here a doctor?”
I turned back towards the plane and noticed an older man had fallen and was lying on his back. He wasn’t moving, his face was turning purple and I thought he was choking. Having not been recertified in CPR in over two years, I didn’t feel qualified to be the one to jump in although I was ready to if no one stepped forward. It didn’t take long for someone to appear and that someone had been standing right behind me. It was Kayla.
Kayla commanded someone to call 9-1-1 as you’re trained to do and others rushed out of the jetway to look for a doctor or nurse. Kayla was calm and appeared to know exactly how to handle the situation. When she realized the man wasn’t breathing and had little to no pulse, she began chest compressions immediately. Another passenger appeared and began searching through the wallet of the fallen man so we could figure out who he was. His name was James. Kayla was talking firmly and loudly to James as she administered compressions and asked if anyone else was ready to take over if she needed a break.
I let her know I was ready if she needed help and I got closer so I could resume compressions if she needed me. Luckily, I didn’t have to step in because the second and third angels of the morning appeared. Two ICU nurses who were in line to board our plane came running down the bridge and up to James. One of them tore open his shirt while the other got the AED out and hooked up. He was still not moving at all and no one could find a pulse. With the AED in place, it scanned James to see if a shock was warranted. It was.
Just like you’ve seen on TV and in movies, everyone yelled CLEAR and took their hands off his body. His body jolted as the shock was delivered and a faint pulse could be detected on his wrist. I grabbed an angel out of my bag, held it, and began praying the Hail Mary over and over. I felt with every ounce of me they were going to bring him back and prayed deliberately for that outcome.
They continued to administer compressions and had the face shield ready to do mouth-to-mouth when James finally took a breath. They had revived him. James had been out maybe two or three minutes but to me, it felt like an eternity and Kayla later described it as an out-of-body experience. She said she was watching herself in slow motion and it wasn’t until she was relieved by the two nurses that the shock wore off and the reality of what had just transpired began to hit her.
“To say this incident shook me up would be an understatement,” Kayla told me.
And get this…Kayla had just become CPR certified in a class offered by her employer just two days prior. Not even forty-eight hours after learning how to save a life, should on the extremely rare occasion someone need her services, Kayla, our angel that morning, helped save James’ life.
“Call it a simulation moment or divine intervention, but there was a reason I was on that Saturday morning flight,” Kayla wrote to me.
After he was taken away by the paramedics, we all exited the jet bridge so that they could reboard our flight. I passed out angels to the two nurses, to Kayla and her group, and to the flight attendants and anyone else I saw who had helped. It was the craziest start to a vacation I had ever had.
Mikey and I talked about what happened during the flight. At one point, Mikey shared with me that he thought it was me who was in trouble. Only about twenty or so people had boarded the flight when they came out looking for a doctor. He kept trying to call me but I wasn’t answering because I was praying over James. Kayla’s friends were the ones who eventually told him it wasn’t me. Mikey had tears in his eyes recounting this and we both agreed we would soak in every moment of our next forty-eight hours together in Vegas.
When we exited the plane I never got a chance to exchange information with Kayla and I was really bummed because I wanted to tell this story in my next Angel Angle. But, as fate would have it, in a sea of 85,000 people at the festival on Sunday, our groups stumbled across each other, arms outstretched, with nothing but an exchange of hugs and smiles. I told her I wanted a picture with her and the rest is history. Here we are at the When We Were Young Punk Rock Festival:
In one of my follow-up questions to Kayla about the experience, she emailed me the following about whether she believes in angels or not:
“I believe in angels, energies, forces within and beyond our world that we have no explanation for… I’ve seen some crazy s***. I don’t pretend to have a solid grasp on what’s ‘out there’ or what happens when we die, but I believe in something bigger than all of us.”
Here's how you can SHINE this week . . .
Show up for those you love. It’s that simple. If someone who is important to you asks you to show up (or doesn’t ask you)…tell them you will, and follow through. Last week I had my first book signing event since launching Angel Man and I had a lot of people show up to support me which really meant a lot. Here are some who showed up for me, despite the weather being pretty horrible:
Last month we talked about “Volunteering” and how getting involved in our community can be impactful not only for others but for ourselves. Do you work in an organization or non-profit you enjoy? I’d love to hear about it!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Holiday Book Sale
All books ordered in November with code THANKS25 can enjoy 25% off their order!
Angel Man is the perfect stocking stuffer and a unique way to show someone you care this Christmas season!