A mother in Ulsan has delivered a handwritten letter and boxes of fruit to the paramedics who treated her 9-year-old son and rushed him to a hospital after he fell from a tree and suffered a head injury.
According to the Ulsan Bukbu Fire Station, the accident happened around noon on the 18th at a playground in an apartment complex in Ulsan's Dong-gu district. The boy, identified only by his surname A, had climbed a tree when the branch he was on snapped, sending him to the ground and injuring his head.
Paramedics from the Yeompo 119 Safety Center, part of the Ulsan Bukbu Fire Station, responded to the emergency call, administered first aid at the scene and quickly transported the boy to Ulsan University Hospital.
Two days later, on the 20th, the boy's mother, identified by the surname B, visited the Yeompo 119 Safety Center in person.
She brought a box of tangerines, a box of Shine Muscat grapes and a carefully written letter. In the opening lines, she introduced herself as "the mother of a little monkey boy" and recalled how frantic the moment had been.
"Blood was gushing out like a fountain and I was beside myself with fear that something terrible would happen to my child," she wrote. "You kept calming me down and you got there so fast that my son came through surgery with no damage to his head and is now running around and playing happily again."
She added: "My children get hurt or fall ill often and we end up relying on you a lot. Every time, you walked with us all the way to the examination room, said goodbye and told us to get well, and comforted my child so he would not be frightened. I have always been grateful."
She also voiced concern about the working conditions paramedics face. "There has been a lot in the news lately about budget cuts affecting firefighters and paramedics, and as an ordinary citizen there is nothing I can do about it, which leaves me frustrated and angry," she wrote.
In the letter she explained why she chose fruit instead of coffee. "You are always the first to go into the places everyone else avoids, and you come running to handle accidents and incidents that are hard even to look at," she wrote. "Even when I was in a panic because my child was badly hurt, you were kind every time and took us all the way to the hospital. I am grateful again and again."
"I thought about buying coffee, but I figured you might not get to drink it if another call came in, so I prepared a box of fruit you can eat whenever you have a free moment," she wrote.
The gift also carried a message from her son. "My child said he wanted to make sure you got this, to thank you for protecting his head so he would not end up with his brain damaged," she wrote.
She closed with words of encouragement. "Compared with what you did for us this is small and modest, but I hope you never forget how many people are always cheering for firefighters and paramedics," she wrote.
The paramedics said they were moved by the unexpected gift. "We only did what paramedics are supposed to do, yet we were the ones who were deeply touched by such a warm gesture," an official at the Yeompo 119 Safety Center said. "We will pass on this heartfelt sincerity from the public to every one of our crew members in the field and take it as great encouragement. We will continue to do our best to protect the lives and safety of citizens."