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When Rachel was rushed to hospital on Christmas, she came home to a beautiful act of kindness.

 

Christmas time is renowned as a time for accidental injuries.

There is alcohol and parties – accidents happen.

So when Rachel Schoonover accidentally broke a wine glass in her kitchen on Christmas Eve and blood began to spill everywhere, she began to panic as she made her way to the hospital.

But when she returned home she had been left with the most wonderful gift of all: a clean home.

When she was at the hospital, the firemen who were first on the scene had cleaned up the mess that the blood from her cut had made throughout the house.

Posting to Facebook, the mother was deeply grateful for their help.

“While washing dishes last night, I broke a wine glass and sliced open the side of my wrist, hitting an artery in the process. Instantly, blood was everywhere, spraying all corners of my kitchen. I wrapped it up in a towel, called 911, called my mum, and continued to bleed everywhere,” she wrote.

“The West Elmira Fire Department got here first, and used a tourniquet to slow the bleeding. They kept me stable and helped Declan dry off and get his pajamas on while we waited for the ambulance. Feeling like I was going to pass out, they leaned me back in a kitchen chair and talked to me until an EMT arrived,” she added.

She explained that the firefighters offered to wait with her son until her mother arrived to watch him while she was at the hospital.

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“My mum wasn’t here yet, and Colin was working, so no one was here to watch Dec. Some of the firemen immediately offered to stay with him until someone else got there, and a neighbour came to wait with him, too,” she said.

“Two IVs, nine stitches, and one tetanus shot later, I was discharged,” she added.

She explained that when she returned home, she instantly dreaded the big mess she had to clean up, until she realised it had already been taken care of.

“When we got back to my house, I was dreading the bloody mess that was waiting for me in every room. Surprisingly, though, the mess was nearly nonexistent. On the counter, I found this letter,” she wrote.

The letter, handwritten by the firefighters, read:

“Hope you feel better and have a happy holiday with your boy we cleaned up some shortly after you left hope you don’t mind. We didn’t know what to do with the rug though. Have a glass of wine for us and feel better. Happy holidays, West Elmira Firemen.” 

“These men wiped down my fridge, coffee maker, speakers, cupboards, bathtub, floors, and even individual K-cups that had been hit. They put the dirty towels in my bathtub, threw away the glass, and cleaned up the blood in my sink,” she wrote.

If that isn’t the Christmas spirit, we don’t know what is.