His
name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to
eke out a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby
bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in
black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself.
Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow
and
terrifying death.
The
next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An
elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of
the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
"I
want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's
life."
"No,
I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied,
waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of
the family hovel.
"Is
that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied
proudly.
"I'll
make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education.
If
the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud
of."
And
that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital
Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as
the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years
afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia.
What
saved him? Penicillin.
The
name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.
His
son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
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