Most of us have heard someone say: When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. In other words, when something bad happens, turn it into something good.
The Halifax explosion mentioned in last week’s “Did You Know Anyone Can Be a Hero,” definitely qualifies as something bad. But if you thought nothing good could come from something so awful, you’d be wrong.
The Watchers
The ships burning in the harbor drew interested stares. People stopped and watched…from homes, businesses, and along the water’s edge. None of them knew one of the ships carried munitions for the war in Europe, making it a ticking time bomb.
When that “bomb” detonated, nearly 6,000 people suffered eye injuries. Numbers vary as to how many people lost both eyes, one eye, or suffered other types of eye damage. But one fact is undisputed. Between the explosion’s initial flash and the resulting shattered windows, eye injuries were numerous.
Silver Linings
The explosion brought more than death and injury that December morning. As horrific as it was, the tragedy also produced several silver linings. One being the medical advancement in eye care, resulting directly from the large number of eye injuries suffered. Another benefit ensued from the lack of coordinated pediatric care. Inspired by this deficiency, Dr. William Ladd, a Bostonian surgeon who’d traveled to Halifax to help, pioneered the specialty of pediatric surgery in North America. And though these two were the main benefits, other health reforms also occurred because of the Halifax explosion.
So remember, no matter how bad things may be, you can always find something good. You just have to look.
Did you know my knowledge of the Halifax Explosion isn’t simply from historical records? My father’s half-sister’s father’s family—did you follow that?—lived in Halifax at the time of the explosion, and, as a teenager, I visited the city with my half-aunt.
She often told me the story of that day. How her paternal uncle was standing in front of the only window in their house that didn’t shatter when the blast tore through the harbor. (Ironically, he wasn’t at the window to watch the ships burn. He was already blind.) Fearing a German invasion, he and his mother grabbed what they could carry and started walking. Their only thought—escape. A blizzard hit the area the next day, yet they trudged on through the snow with other fearful survivors. Three days would pass before they learned the truth of the explosion and returned to Halifax.
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