This lovely young woman gave her life just a few weeks before her 21st birthday to help a complete stranger in distress in the early morning of Sunday September 14th, 2008.In statements given by her family, Michelle "Tippy" Runkle was the type of person that would always befriend and stick up for the person that others turned away from. It was in such an act of attempting to help another that she gave her life.
My entire career as a fire fighter is based on my desire to live up to the ideal of selflessness and courage that this young woman displayed.
The group of us brought her body in a silent procession from the bank of Hominy Creek where the current had placed her, careful to carry her with the dignity she deserved.
I wish very badly that I could have met her under different circumstances. She is the type of person I would want my family to know and have as a friend. Her intentions had been to get a degree in Social Work. I have no doubt that she would have shed much light in that difficult profession, and been a desperately needed beacon of hope to people in a weary world.
Fool that I am, I was not aware that the brush I was clearing near the bank where she was found had poison ivy in it, much like I am sure that Michelle was not aware of the grave danger she faced when she stepped out of the safety of the vehicle she was in and moved toward a young man that was holding on for dear life near her. The deceptively swift and deadly water flowing underneath her feet was not forgiving, and swept her away no doubt before she had any idea what was happening. For my part, I have a bit of poison ivy on my arm while I ponder questions without answers...
I want very badly to make sense and find a purpose in the loss of this beautiful person, but I cannot...words and logic are clumsy and ineffective tools...truth and meaning are elusive despite my best efforts to find them as I write this...
However insignificant my place in her story, I will take a part of her with me, and hope that in my own life my actions can bear silent witness to a selfless act from a beautiful soul...
