Here's the first word I think of when I hear the name Ross Perot:
Hero
Not what you were expecting? Let me fill you in.
I got an email about 2 months ago about some friends of mine from college, Sarah and Joe, who are missionaries in the middle east. They had just rushed their 10 day old baby, Luke, to the hospital. He'd not been feeding well and was very lethargic. Obviously, that's a terrifying situation for any parent, but on top of that, the hospital customs in that country don't allow parents to see their children. For days they desperately tried to convince the doctors to let them see their baby and finally they were able to go back, but after about 20 seconds, the nurse said, "time's up." They both nearly lost it.
It was finally determined that he had a heart defect. His condition continued to worsen until they realized that they had to get him to the States asap or he would need a medical evacuation or have to undergo intensive neonatal open heart surgery in a third world country.
Ultimately, they had about 12 hours to find tickets, pack, and drive 8 hours to the international airport. They called every airline they could and there were NO tickets. They even called the U.S. Consulate and the U.S. Air Force Evacuation Unit and no one was able to find anything.
Finally, their friend Julie, in the States, called and said she found a ticket and if they wanted it, she'd buy it right then. Of course they agreed. In Julie's rush to find a ticket, she'd called her employer's secretary and told her the story and the secretary told her boss who was Mr. Perot. He couldn't get the situation out of his head, so he called the leading cardiologist at the top children's hospital in the nation and instructed him to call Sarah, who had to make the trip alone since Joe had to stay with their other children, on her cell phone.
Just when she was needing a bit of confirmation rushing to the capital city over 100 miles of rough mountain roads and passes with no shoulder or guard rails, Dr. Thompson called her. He explained to her how to handle the flight with a baby with Luke's condition, and said that he'd have an ambulance waiting at the airport upon their arrival… he also said for her to call him at any time, gave her his cell phone number, and though it would be in the middle of the night he'd leave his cell phone on beside his bed waiting to help them in any way.
Sarah and Luke arrived at the airport on time… to learn that the ticket was First Class! The flight went very well with all the stewardesses learning Luke's story which then spread throughout the plane. He was able to eat actually more than he did the previous day and slept well too. Upon landing, the Captain of the plane welcomed Luke personally to the United States over the intercom system while different ones told Sarah that they were praying for her little baby. As the door of the plane opened a police guard took them right off, then excorted them straight through customs and right outside to an ambulance that rushed them on to the hospital. And there waiting for them at the hospital was Sarah's family and Ross Perot. Luke was immediately admitted to the ICU. Mr. Perot was so concerned about Luke that he'd call and go to the hospital regularly.
Since then Luke has had successful open heart surgery and is now doing great!
I just saw with Sarah and Luke the other day and she told me that their hospital bills totaled almost a quarter of a million dollars. That's a lot money for a couple of missionaries. When they got the final bill in the mail they were shocked to see that they only owed $1,000. What do you think happened to the other $240,000?
Yeah, that's why Mr. Perot is my hero.
Isn't it amazing how God provides?
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