Jacksonville veteran says mental health facility holding him for week with no hearing
Action News Jax
By: Jenna Bourne
Aug 3, 2018
A combat-disabled veteran told Action News Jax he’s being unnecessarily held against his will at a Jacksonville mental health facility without a hearing.
Robert Mayo, who said he’s already been locked inside River Point Behavioral Health for a week, was initially admitted under Florida’s Baker Act.
The Baker Act allows mental health facilities such as River Point to hold patients for 72 hours if they are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Mayo said he should not be a Baker Act patient and he has not gotten the hearing he is entitled to by law.
His wife, Elizabeth Mayo, denies her husband has threatened to harm himself or others.
She said her husband couldn’t get a mental health appointment at the Veterans Affairs facility until until the end of September, so he went to River Point for help.
A week later, she hired an attorney to help get her husband out.
She said their son can barely sleep at night.
“He just lays in there and cries for Daddy, cries for Daddy. Every time he hears a door or something, he’s asking for daddy,” said Elizabeth Mayo.
If a patient is involuntarily committed beyond the 72 hours allowed by the Baker Act, they’re entitled to a hearing within five days.
An Action News Jax Investigation last year revealed only about 2 percent of local Baker Act patients were getting those hearings.
“How are you supposed to feel safe asking for help when you know you can be held indefinitely against your will?” said Robert Mayo, who called Action News Jax from inside the facility, with the help of his attorney. “They can hold you without having to explain themselves to anybody for as long as they want. It’s like going to jail without ever having a set release date.”
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Marine veteran helps save 2-year-old boy after child was pulled from pool
AZ Family.com
Whitney, Reporter
Aug 05, 2018
Serock was a Marine for four years and served in the Gulf War. He's written three books on living with PTSD, and this was the first time he's had to perform CPR since he served our country.
(3TV/CBS 5)
A Marine veteran with PTSD jumped into action to help a little boy who was pulled from a Mesa pool Saturday. And he may have helped save the toddler's life.
One minute, Robert Serock, Jr. was talking to his neighbor inside a home near Dobson and Guadalupe in Mesa.
The next minute... panic and chaos.
“I heard people screaming and yelling,” said Serock “I saw them pull the baby out of the pool.”
Serock said they never saw his neighbor's 2-year-old boy get out of the house, but they found him in the pool, unresponsive.
Serock wasted no time.
“I told them what to do… because I’ve done it before,” said Serock.
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WARNING: Have tissues ready when you go to watch this video.
Vietnam vet honors familiar name on wall
ABC 57 News
By: Jess Arnold
Posted: Aug 5, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- During his first ever trip to the wall, one Vietnam vet honored an all too familiar name on the wall.
The name--his own--Robert Berta.
A Robert D. Berta was born the same year (1946) as this vet, Robert L. Berta--also in South Bend.
They served overseas at the same time, where the former was killed in action.
“Scary considering I was there at the same time. We could have, we didn’t know who was going to be coming home, me or him. It seemed like I made it and he didn’t. and we never think that way. We figure we should be there, too on this wall, because we all did our job. Maybe I should have been on this wall myself, so that’s the way I feel about it," said Robert L. Berta.
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Woman killed, soldier injured after 2 consecutive hit-and-run crashes
WSMV 4 NBC News
Meredith Digial Staff
August 4, 2018
A Good Samaritan, Kalen Lawson, 20, of Fort Hood, Texas, who is also an active duty member of the U.S. Army, stopped to help the woman. As he was helping the woman, another vehicle traveling on N Galloway, hit and struck Lawson and the woman he was helping. The woman died at the scene of the crash.
LAKELAND, Fla. (Meredith/WFTS) -- A woman is dead and a Good Samaritan U.S. Army soldier coming to her aid was seriously injured after two consecutive hit-and-runs in Polk County on Thursday morning.
One of the drivers, 20-year-old Corey Wesley Jones of Lakeland, was arrested in the case. He is also known as "DB Da Kid," and is a rapper. He was driving a 2002 black GMC SUV and left the scene after hitting 40-year-old Kelli Black.
Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference on Thursday that he had spoken to Jones and Jones has promised to turn himself in. Now he has been taken into custody and charged with the leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury and reckless driving with serious bodily injury.
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The power to move starts with your desire
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
August 5, 2018
The only thing stopping you from going where you want to go in life, is your imagination is not fueling your power to even start.
If you think you are stuck where you are, you may want to have a different life, but lack the way to change it. Just like all journeys, you need someone to clear the way so you can see what is possible on the road ahead.
The question is not how do you get there, but how do you even want to begin? If you have hope there is something better ahead for you, then you'll seek it. The more you look, the more you'll find people along the way to cheer you on.
PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone
Update from PTSD Patrol Two Wheel Power Drive
It is Sunday Morning! The beginning of a new week and hopefully, a new beginning for you too!
By now, you watched the video and saw how all of these athletes received help to achieve their goals. That is how everyone moves on in life.
You had a desire to serve. They had a desire to do that too.
You had to be trained to do it. So did they.
They needed help to get out of the wheelchairs. Help to learn how to swim with their physical limits but they did not limit themselves to what they were expected to do. You should not settle for being limited to what people expect out of you with your disability.
They needed help on every part of this trip in their lives, and so do you.
Sure, I know most wheelchairs have more than two wheels but when you think about it, that is really all you need. One wheel moves you but the other one guides you to where you want to go.
So where do you want to go? The only limits on your life are those you settle for. Want to get up and move that vehicle you live in? Then #TakeBackYourLife and find the drive to do it.
On a personal note: Gunny, there is something on the end of this just for you! Thank you for being such a huge part of encouraging me to never give up!
Click the link above for the rest of this!
