1913
- “THE COVENANT”
The pain was too much for the
small boy. He ran into the farm dairy to hide. He had done this before
when the pain had come on, because he didn't want anyone to see him
crying. But this time was different. He could hide it no longer. His
limbs and body were swollen, the pain excruciating. He cried out.
His mother took one look at him
and laid him down. This was no ordinary childish sickness that she
could cure with her farm remedies. She called her cane-farming husband.
He too knew at once that this was serious, but the nearest doctor and
hospital were 12 miles away, in the town of Mackay, Queensland.
Wasting no time, he harnessed
the horse to the family spring cart, got out his wife's ironing board,
strapped the child on it so that he could lie flat, lifted it onto the
vehicle, and off they went - mother, father and sick child.
At the hospital, Dr. Williams
examined the boy and shook his head. “The appendix has burst,”
he said, “He now has peritonitis. I'm afraid it's too late for
surgery...”
The mother and father were
devastated and pleaded with the doctor to do what he could. Reluctantly
he agreed, more to appease the parents than with any confidence in a
successful outcome. Complicated surgery in 1913 was pretty much a risky
and rugged affair.
The child was aware of the quick
preparations and of the Matron rushing to and fro. Then, through it
all, he felt his mother lean over his bed and say, “God, if you let
my boy live, I will make him a Minister for you.”
To the amazement of all, except
the mother, the operation was an ungainly success. The boy managed to
pull through with deep draining tubes and an awesome, stitched-up wound.
Forever after that day, the
mother lived with the certainty that she would carry out her part of the
Covenant that she had made with God. As for the boy, although he was
only six years old at the time, he knew without any doubt, that one day
he would be a Minister.
His name was Fred McKay…
Extract
from the book “Fred McKay : Successor to Flynn of the Inland”
by Maisie McKenzie.
