DALLAS — Joe Magouirk has always had a heart for helping others. He inadvertently proved it just a few weeks ago when he gave his heart away to someone he thought might need it more.
But we should explain.
I met Joe Magouirk at Baylor University Medical Center hospital while he was waiting for a friend. To be exact he was waiting for a "Battle Buddy." That's what they called them during his tour in Desert Storm. A buddy whose job is to make sure you come home alive.
Now, stateside and working for the VA, he often wears miniature versions of his military commendations, service ribbons, on his chest, his hat, or on his vest when riding his motorcycle.
They include a Purple Heart.
"I was wounded in action in Desert Storm in February of '91," he said of the firefight he survived. "A lot of them are given posthumously. So to be able to receive it and be alive was a big thing," he said.
But on a trip to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas he met someone he thought might need the Purple Heart more than he did.
Her name is Marisa Flood. Her friends call her Cat. The 22-year-old has Down Syndrome. And on that day they met a few weeks go, an attempt at a blood draw in the medical lab was not going well.
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"The lab tech, of course when the needle came out, the fight was on," Magouirk said.
"She's always been very scared of needles especially," said Cat's mom Jene Flood. "
"Scares me to death," Cat said.
"It wasn't going to happen at all. She didn't want to straighten her arm out and keep it straight," Magouirk said.
He was a patient in the same medical lab waiting for his appointment next.
"It was obvious that she was scared to death of needles," Magouirk said.
"I was holding her hand and just telling her it's going to be OK," Jene Flood said. "And she was not going to listen to mom. And so I was very thankful he was in the room at that time."
Because Joe, witnessing the struggle, had an idea: the miniature Purple Heart pinned to his hat.
"I asked Cat's mom, hey is it alright if I try to calm her down? That's when I handed the mom the miniature Purple Heart medal, said I want to give this to her," Magouirk said.
Cat wore the Purple Heart proudly, she calmed down, and didn't seem as scared of needles anymore.
"And it's just a way of showing her how brave she is," Joe said. "It just felt like the right thing to do."
"And it made her stronger at the time," Jene Flood said. "I was so grateful that he was there. And she's been wearing it every day. And she told everybody at school and her teachers. She's kind of proud of it."
Joe and Cat were being tested because they both will eventually need liver transplants. But that day in the medical lab, Joe's simple gesture clearly touched a young woman's heart.
Cat doesn't talk much. But when asked what she thought of Joe and his gesture her few words were about as powerful, and thankful, as you can get.
"Because I love him," she said of Joe Magouirk. "My best friend."
"So nice," her mom responded.
"She's a brave young woman and I just want to be there for her," Magouirk said while promising to be at other medical appointments for her if needed. "Lifelong friendship now. Like we say in the military, she's my battle buddy."
A buddy today a little bit more brave, thanks to the "giving" heart of her new best friend.