There are movies that I have watched and as a father, I am left wondering … what would I do in their stead?

Denzel Washington stars in the 2002 thriller John Q. Michael, John’s son, collapses while playing baseball as a result of heart failure. John rushes Michael to hospital and John is informed that his son’s hope is a heart transplant. John Quincy Archibald takes a hospital emergency room hostage when his insurance won’t cover his son’s heart transplant until the doctors agree to do the transplant [IMDB]

In another movie, A Time to Kill (1996), staring Hollywood’s finest (Samuel L Jackson, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey, Ashley Jud, Donald Sutherland-Him of 24 … among others) in a court thriller. In the town of Canton, Mississippi, ten-year-old African American Tonya Hailey (Rae’Ven Larrymore Kelly) is abducted, raped, and beaten by two local white men, Billy Ray Cobb (Nicky Katt) and Pete Willard (Doug Hutchison). The duo dump her in a nearby river after a failed attempt to hang her. Tonya survives, and the two men are arrested by Sheriff Ozzie Walls (Charles S. Dutton). Tonya’s father, Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson), contacts Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey), a white lawyer who previously defended his brother. Brigance admits the possibility that the rapists will walk free. Carl Lee goes to the county courthouse and opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing both rapists and unintentionally injuring Deputy Dwayne Looney (Chris Cooper) with a ricochet, whose leg is later amputated. Carl Lee is arrested and Brigance agrees to defend him [Wikipedia]

What would you do if you were in either John Q’s shoes or in Carl Lee’s position in the courthouse?

My current watch is a medical Tv series – The Good Doctor. The protagonist is Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon who has savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the surgical unit at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital — a move strongly supported by his mentor, Dr. Aaron Glassman. 

Today as I was waiting for my connecting flight, I was thrilled and chilled at the same time with the events from s02e14. Dr. Andrews (the hospitals’ president and chief surgeon) tries to convince a grieving family to donate their teenage daughter’s (Karen) face to another young girl (Molly) whose face was horribly disfigured in an accident. Karen’s mum (Shannon) has difficulty making the call to have her this organ donation done – since her daughter is brain dead and with no likelihood of recovery. You bet the happenings in theatre are something to fathom.

I asked myself the question – would I as a father make that call to have my son/daughter donate his/her face to another ailing child just to make him/her look beautiful/handsome?

If it’s not the face, would it be the heart? Would it be a kidney?

Today as we celebrate Fathers Day, step back and know that this is a heavier than human call.

For to be a real father is more than siring your own!