Tragedy becomes 'a blessing' for disabled Vietnam Vet

Tragedy becomes 'a blessing'
By Elizabeth Richardson

The Times-Herald

While many families were gearing up for Christmas on Dec. 23, 2008, Leon Dyes -- a 61-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran -- was about to face tragedy.

Dyes lived at 62 Lone Oak Road near Grantville. In the early morning hours of Dec. 23, an electrical fire erupted, burning his residence to the ground.

"Thankfully, none of my family was home at the time," said Dyes.

Dyes' son, daughter-in-law and young grandson had been staying with him at the time. On Dec. 23, they were out of town celebrating Christmas while Dyes was staying in LaGrange.

Thanks to the generosity of others, however, Dyes was recently able to move into his reconstructed house and turn what was once viewed a tragedy into "a blessing."

Dyes lost all of his possessions in the fire, as well as two dogs, one that belonged to him and one that was his son's.
read more here
Tragedy becomes a blessing

In a second, lives changed forever

A 2 year old girl died while at a birthday party. Another 1 year old died because his father made a mistake with a car. A man is charged after road rage and a couple on a motorcycle will never be the same. Three different stories, seconds out of lives and no one involved in any of them will ever be the same. This is how trauma can alter everything we think, we believe and what we expect out of ourselves. These three stories were on Tampa Times this morning.

Brooksville girl, 2, drowns during birthday party
Times staff
Posted: Aug 02, 2009 11:13 AM


SPRING HILL — A 2-year-old Brooksville girl attending a birthday party wandered into a neighbor's pool and drowned Saturday afternoon, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

Shailyn Marie Shaw of 965 Candlelight Blvd., Apt. 46, Brooksville, was among about 12 children attending the party at 8180 Pagoda Drive. The children were playing on an inflatable ride in the backyard as adults watched. click link for more

1-year-old dies when father accidentally hits him with car
By Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Aug 03, 2009 06:32 AM

BRADENTON — A 1-year-old died Saturday night when his father accidentally hit him with his car in front of the family's apartment.

Troopers say the father, Miguel A. Aragon-Castro, 32, went outside to start his car at about 11 p.m. at the Manatee Woods Apartment complex. He went inside to get his two sons. But the car was apparently in first gear when he took out the clutch, and it lunged forward, pinning the younger Miguel Aragon-Figueroa to the outside wall of the apartment. He died.

Traffic incident erupts into gunfire at Tarpon Springs gas station
By Brant James, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Aug 03, 2009 10:48 AM

TARPON SPRINGS — A road rage incident escalated to attempted murder on Sunday when a man fired a handgun at two people he bumped from behind on U.S. 19, according to Bay News 9.

David Bowman, 34, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, using a firearm while under the influence, simple battery and domestic battery from an incident earlier in the evening. He is being held in Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $30,750 bail.

Tarpon Springs police said Bowman, driving a white Oldsmobile, bumped a motorcycle carrying Pantelis Mastrovasi and Nichole Hill from behind around 8 p.m., prompting an argument that continued into a nearby Circle K parking lot. Police say Bowman then fired a shot, shattering a gas station window, before fleeing.

A twist on the Alzheimer's fight

A twist on the Alzheimer's fight
Mary Newport, a Spring Hill doctor, said ketones — a kind of superfuel for brain cells — had an immediate effect on her husband, Steve, who has early onset Alzheimer’s disease. "He said it was like someone had turned on a lightbulb," Mary Newport said. Others are taking notice, too, as ketones are drawing interest as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

TV Shows Trauma and Mercy

Trauma

Executive producer Peter Berg delivers "Trauma," the first high-octane medical drama series to live exclusively in the field where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, "Trauma" is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics. When emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco General is first on the scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time. From the heights of the city's Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the San Francisco Bay, these heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives -- and give meaning to their own existence in the process.

Source: NBC



Mercy - NBC TV Show - Mercy Seasons, Spoilers, Cast, Pics


NBC's "Mercy," a new medical drama with a unique point of view, portrays the lives of the staff at Mercy Hospital as seen through the eyes of those who know it best—its nurses.

Nurse Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling, "Dark Matter") returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq—and she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined on NBC's "Mercy." Together with fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kirchner, "Rescue Me") and Chloe Payne (Michelle Trachtenberg, "Gossip Girl"), Callahan navigates through the daily traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out in the real world on NBC's "Mercy."

The cast of NBC's "Mercy" also includes: James Tupper ("Men in Trees") as Dr. Chris Sands, a new doctor at the hospital who complicates Veronica's life; Diego Klattenhoff ("Supernatural") as Mike Callahan, Veronica's husband; and Guillermo Diaz ("Weeds") as Nurse Angel Lopez.

NBC's "Mercy" is a Universal Media Studios/Berman Braun production. Joining writer/executive producers Liz Heldens (NBC's "Friday Night Lights") and Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts ("Pushing Daisies," "Pepper Dennis") are executive producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. Emmy Award winner Adam Bernstein (NBC's "30 Rock," "Rescue Me") is the director for the pilot of NBC's "Mercy."
TV Shows Trauma and Mercy

It's really odd to finally see TV shows coming out addressing trauma after all these years, but it's wonderful they are finally being done.

Quiet heroes we depend on everyday to take care of us when parts of our life beyond our control spiral into chaos. Car accidents can change our lives in a second. Natural disasters strike leaving us in total confusion wondering where we're supposed to live, find clothes, food, how we are supposed to put our lives back together again. Fires wipe out everything we thought we valued, needed to make us happy and obliterated sentimental reminders of our lives captured in pictures lost forever.

We tend to not think about these people we need when traumatic events happen but we're sure glad they show up when they do.

Firefighters, emergency responders, police officers and Chaplains show up when they are needed the most then return into the background of our lives. It never dawns on us to wonder how they do it, how they face all these events, risk their own lives for the sake of strangers, then go back to their own lives without asking anything in return except a simple thank you and their paycheck, because they were "just doing their jobs" for the rest of us.

They go back home after working to save us, risking their lives to do it, then have to take out the trash, do the laundry, go food shopping, deal with kid's homework, dust furniture and vacuum the rugs. They deal with the usual mundane problems and family relationships all the while they are remembering they just saved a life, wondering why simple events in life can take on so much importance to the people they love the most. Someone died in their arms a little while ago but they have to deal with an argument over who was supposed to unload the dishwasher. They saved the life of a child but have to go home and tell their own kid to clean their room.

We see them everyday but never really notice any of them until we need them. We never think about their own lives once we are done needing them.

These TV shows may make us think more about them while reminding us of the trauma they face daily. Mercy will show us what it's like to be sent into combat then have to come back home living like the rest of us but being oh so much more than we could ever dream of.

Seminole jail trainee shot by deputies after corrections officer killed

Seminole jail trainee shot by deputies after corrections officer killed

Gary Taylor

Sentinel Staff Writer

3:07 PM EDT, August 2, 2009


A Seminole County Sheriff's Office trainee, suspected of fatally shooting his female companion, was shot and seriously injured this morning by a deputy from that agency.

Jeff L. Thomas, 45, is in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was airlifted after the shooting in Geneva, Seminole County sheriff's Capt. Dennis Lemma said.

Lemma identified the dead woman as Melanie Lee, 37, a sergeant with the state Department of Corrections, working at the Central Florida Reception Center near Orlando.
read more here
Corrections officer killed