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.