Sometimes good things happen that you would never think possible. Take Band-Aid’s for example; They’re good for just about any minor wound care, and can be found in pretty much every household and definitely every doctor’s office and hospital you will ever set foot in. Heck, they even keep them in all the school offices and classrooms I’ve ever worked in. But would you ever – even for a minute – think they might handle a job as touchy and tough as fixing a flat tire? Me either! Well… until today…
My husband Rob and I went to see our grown boys, and to help with a run to the dump with some old junk. We have a 1972 Ford F-250 that was built to last, and though it’s a big-time gas guzzler, it sure comes in handy now and again! After a day of dad and son loading and unloading, and visiting over a late lunch, it was time to go home. Now home is a few miles away, across three counties, past three bridges, and over three highways. There’s a lot of delta farmland in between here and there, and out I past a certain point, not a lot at places to pull over and stop or get help in times of need.
Well as we were on the freeway, Rob felt the truck doing a little shimmy-shake, and noticed it was pulling to the left real hard. Not good! We hadn’t quite made it to the first bridge, which goes up pretty high over a large body of water, so we were in trouble. Rob pulled off the first exit he came to, just before the toll bridge, and we found our way into the gas station parking lot. Sure enough, the front driver side tire was almost completely flat, and to top it off, it was raining.
Now remember, this awesome and tough truck of ours is a big one, and we’ve got a few days till payday, so having it towed home is really not an option at this point. Neither is leaving it in a not-so-great area unsupervised for three days. So, I called one of the boys, told him what happened, asked if he’d come and help us out, which of course he did agree to do, but the round-trip would be at least two hours, and a bunch at gas plus bridge toll, and we didn’t want him to have to do that unless absolutely necessary.
So… the old man and I thought for a minute, and he asked if we had any tape. Turned out the valve stem had broken and air was leaking out like crazy, but if he held it to the side, and kept it there, it was almost completely sealed off and didn’t leak much. After rifling through the cab of the truck, the best I could come up with was a box of Band-Aid’s. I held it up, laughed, and jokingly said, “You could put a band-aid on its owie!” Rob laughed too, and went back to the task of trying to figure out what to do.
Out of nowhere, as l was putting the box back in the compartment, I felt strongly that we should give them a try. I shook my head thinking it was silly, but “Give it a try!” ran through my head again. So… I got out, went around with the box in hand and started peeling a few of them open, and told Rob, “Here – give these a try. Couldn’t hurt, right?” He shrugged and said, “Why not!” We figured the kid was on the way, but maybe we could get over the bridge and a few miles closer to home to make things easier on all of us. Band-Aid on, tire filled with air and holding for now, Rob hopped in and did his best to get it as far as he could as fast as he could. I called the kid, and gave the update with a, “Go ahead and come out, and you’ll probably find us on the side of the road somewhere waiting for you, but at least we’ll be closer to home.” And then I prayed for the grace of God and a small miracle.
Well the tire was still leaking, but not as fast, and we made it to the next town, where we repeated the air/Band-Aid/praying for grace procedure, and within about twenty minutes of the first call to our son, I was able to report that by the grace of God and a Band-Aid, we’d made it home on what had been a flat tire on a 5,000 lb. truck, in the rain. What’s more… after we got home, we found out the back tire on the same side was also going flat, but held till after we’d made it home. That combination could have easily resulted in an accident, and where we live an accident can mean going down an embankment into someone’s farm, or into the river. Neither of those turns out very well for most of the people it happens to. God is so good it amazes me! There’s just nothing He can’t do, Praise the Lord!
**Please do NOT take this story to mean that a band aid will work to fix your tire! I would not want anyone to get hurt! In any other situation, I would not have attempted this, and neither should you!!**
Blessings,
C.A. Bennett – Writer
C.A. Bennett 