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.