A Moment of Prayer
June 6, 2019
Rural Metro firefighters offered a woman support by praying with her at a difficult time.
Sometimes, the way first responders act in a not as pressing situation goes to show more about them than anything else.
In April, Knoxville community member Justin Pratt was on his way home from a lunch out when he noticed a woman that seemed to be in distress in a parking lot after a van had just sped away. Pratt checked in on her to see if she was okay, and learned that she had just been verbally abused and kicked out of her home. The woman was crying and seemingly inconsolable, but refused when Pratt offered to call the police for her.
It was then that Pratt saw two Rural Metro firefighters pulling into the fire station across the street. Not knowing what else to do, Pratt approached the firefighters/EMTs, Blake Sexton and Grant Hickman, and asked if they could try to help the woman.
Sexton and Hickman immediately went over to help her, despite having just finished a busy day on the job. She continued to refuse to go to the hospital, but simply asked if the first responders would pray for her. Instead of just leaving and promising to do so, Sexton and Hickman instead stopped and prayed for her right then and there.
"You could tell that doing that for her was more than anything medically we could have given her," Hickman said. When they were finished, her tears had stopped and she seemed much more at peace. As Pratt put it, "how much better would our world be, if we had just a little more of this?"
Related Story:
First responders stop to pray with woman in distress
In April, Knoxville community member Justin Pratt was on his way home from a lunch out when he noticed a woman that seemed to be in distress in a parking lot after a van had just sped away. Pratt checked in on her to see if she was okay, and learned that she had just been verbally abused and kicked out of her home. The woman was crying and seemingly inconsolable, but refused when Pratt offered to call the police for her.
It was then that Pratt saw two Rural Metro firefighters pulling into the fire station across the street. Not knowing what else to do, Pratt approached the firefighters/EMTs, Blake Sexton and Grant Hickman, and asked if they could try to help the woman.
Sexton and Hickman immediately went over to help her, despite having just finished a busy day on the job. She continued to refuse to go to the hospital, but simply asked if the first responders would pray for her. Instead of just leaving and promising to do so, Sexton and Hickman instead stopped and prayed for her right then and there.
"You could tell that doing that for her was more than anything medically we could have given her," Hickman said. When they were finished, her tears had stopped and she seemed much more at peace. As Pratt put it, "how much better would our world be, if we had just a little more of this?"
Related Story:
First responders stop to pray with woman in distress
