A Fireman's Prayer

"When I am called to duty, whenever flames may rage, give me the strength to save some lives...

And if, according to my fate, I am to lose my life;
please bless with your protecting hand my children and my wife."

This line that was featured in Episode 16's Secret Garden was a weepy moment for the audience. 

Voiced by Ra Im's dad, it is actually a verse from a renowned poem,
"Firefighter's Prayer". This prayer was found on the desk of a fireman who died in a 2001 fire that happened in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul:

When I am called to duty, God

whenever flames may rage, 

Give me the strength to save some life

Whatever be its age.

Help me to embrace a little child

Before it’s too late,

Or some older person

from the horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert

And hear the weakest shout,

And quickly and efficiently

to put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling

and give the best in me,

To guard my neighbor 

And protect his property.

And if according to Your will

I have to lose my life,

Please bless with Your protecting hand

My children and my wife.

Chloe Says (an excerpt): This poem is written by a firefighter in Kansas, A.W. “Smokey” Linn. As a young firefighter in 1958, Linn and his crew responded to a fire in which three children were trapped behind security bars and died in the fire.

The only way he could find to ease the pain of such a tragedy was to sit down and put his thoughts on paper. The phrase, “enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout”, sends a chill up a firefighter’s spine as you imagine what he experienced on that fateful night. It was a particularly tough time for him as he had young children around the same age.


His granddaughter, Penny McGlachlin said that back then there were no grief counselors to help the firefighters. Penny believes this was an actual prayer from him, to god for the sake of his own family, the other fireman, and the families of the children.


Via aspiringfirefighters.com and Baidu (chi trans).