The following is from my memoir Someone’s Hero.

The first time I remember someone saving my life was Monday, September 1, 1975, one month after starting as a career firefighter.

Ohio had been getting more than its fair share of rain for days and the swollen rivers and streams had lured people to “ride the rapids”. The result was plenty of newspaper pictures and TV news video footage showing overturned kayaks, canoes, and rafts in raging waters where people had lost their lives.

I remember seeing a video where firefighters in a rowboat, attempted to recover dead bodies in a river while the water was still high and flowing. While standing in the boat and trying to hook a body with a pike pole, the firefighter lost his balance, fell overboard and drowned. The lesson was immediate. Never risk your life to recover a body. Continue reading →