As I have worked in the EMS over the last nine and half years, I have seen my share of death. Not only have I seen it but I have heard it as well. I remember my first dead body that was mangled inside a crashed car. I looked at this woman, how young she was. I had to cut her out of this car and there was no life left in her body. All I could think about was how she looked to be the almost the same age as me. There was kid stuff in her car, was she a mother. What child was going to be grieve stricken today. Turns out she was my age, she had a son who also happen to be the same age as my son at the time. I thought that cutting her body out of this car was the hard part. I was wrong. The guy from the funeral home showed up and he jerked her body around like it was just another day. Here I was being oh so gentle after all she was still a human, a mother, a person. I was angered by this guy’s lack of sympathy. I gently pushed her hair back and slowly zipped the big black body bag that she now lay in. I will never forget the look on her face as i zipped it shut. I will always think back on that day because in a sense I also lost my sympathy after that day. I will never forget seeing the woman's mother running to the scene from a distance. The sound that she made when she in deed seen that her daughter was for sure gone. As my fellow firefighters and I stood there and watched her grieve over her daughter locked away in the bag, we lowered our helmets and just starred.

I remember my first dead body that was mangled inside a crashed car. All I could think about was the life that was now gone. She was so young looking and I remember seeing kid stuff inside the car. Was she a mother? what poor child was going to be told that their mother was gone. What kind of life will that be for a child with no mother. I thought cutting her out was going to be the hardest, i was wrong. I think the hardest part was putting her lifeless body in the big black body bag. I remember the guy from the funeral home was rough with her, like this was no big thing, its just a dead body. I was being so gentle and he angered me so much for the lack of respect that he showed for her. She turned out to be a mother, she in fact was the same age as me and her son was the same age as my son at the time. I remember pushing her hair back and starring into her eyes as I zipped the bag close. There was nothing but a blank stare left in her eyes, no moisture or life, it was gone. I remember hearing the sound of her mother coming from a distance and that sound will always be in the back of my mind. I remember watching her come to realize that in deed her daughter was really gone. My fellow firefighters and just stood and we lowered our helements in respect and just starred. I think it was that day that I realized they guy from the funeral home wasn't showing lack of respect, or lack of sympathy. this was a coping skill that I would soon to learn. That was my first dead body to encounter in this field, and those will all stick with you. The one thing I remember after that day wass the wanting a bacon cheeseburger after i had left that horrible scene. Who in their right mind would want to eat after that.