Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, Animal Policy Examiner
This very sad material has recently come to our attention—Eds
Edward Gardner's act of compassion for animals cost him his life. Credit: Courtesy of Jim Gollwitzer
DATELINE: June 1, 2011 –
ON MEMORIAL DAY Edward Gardner saw a group of wild ducklings on an Illinois interstate and couldn’t just keep driving. He had to stop. He had to get out and try to help the animals off the busy roadway, where they might have lost their lives.
As a result, after a passing limousine struck him, he gave up his own.
Gardner, 38, loved animals, his best friend told WLS-TV Chicago. “It was no surprise what he did,” said Jim Gollwitzer, “that he would risk his life to save another. That’s the kind of guy he was. Just an amazing spirit.”
Every hour of every day, Gardner’s fellow animal lovers around the world also make sacrifices small and large for the cause they care about so deeply.
Things like dusting the furniture, combing the hair, and a good night’s sleep go by the wayside.
Things like friendships, marriages, jobs, and health go into question.
Often they are ridiculed, labeled over the top, crazy, or radical in their passion for defending and improving the lives of the most helpless among us.
Sometimes they’re harassed, arrested, or worse by authorities for challenging the intolerable status quo.
There are those who would call Edward Gardner foolish for stepping out of his car on the highway, stepping out of safety, stepping out of his own comfortable world, simply because a family of ducks were in danger.
There are others who know that, foolish or not, they would have done exactly the same thing.
As they feed the family of needy animals who’ve come their way over the years, they might whisper a prayer for Gardner.
As they tap out emails to congress members about animal protection laws, they might stop to send thanks and sympathies to the family of such a caring soul.
The name Edward Gardner might never appear on a monument, as do those of many heroes. But to anyone who knows a little too well what was in his heart at the moment he stepped out of his car, that “amazing spirit” who gave his all for something that mattered to him is a hero nonetheless.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris (a.k.a. Kathryn Makris) has written 17 novels for major publishers; thousands of articles during four years as a wire service reporter; numerous pieces for publications such as National Geographic Traveler and Mother Jones; features for KQED-FM in San Francisco and “Marketplace” on public radio, and a teleplay for CBS-TV. Her interviews include George H.W. Bush, Ted Danson, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, Tori Spelling, the “real” Colonel Sanders, and Benji the dog.
Find out how to donate to a memorial fund in Gardner’s honor.
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