The experts say that the headline grabs the reader - so
hopefully this one worked. It's a tough headline: "Fire Chief
Mobbed After The Loss of His Daughter"--but it's a fact.
One of our mutual aid Chiefs is a man named Andy Mitten. He
is the Chief of Harlan Township Fire & EMS in Warren County, Ohio-a suburb
of Cincinnati. And while we don't run alot of calls together, there are some
areas where both our departments are due on runs. So we catchup from time to
time. Andy grew up in Pennsylvania (State College and Towanda)
and followed the footsteps of his Dad and Uncle, also Firefighters. Like so
many of you, he LOVES being a Dad, Husband and Firefighter
...and being a Firefighter pretty much defines who Andy is. But
Andy was "Mobbed" this week. Read on.
I have had the real pleasure to have Andy as a
friend since the early 90's and he is definitely one of a kind. A very low key,
unassuming man who gets so much done with so little fanfare-he defines living
leadership. He is extremely active and has helped grow and lead a phenomenal,
highly respected busy rural volunteer fire and rescue company-as he was a
charter member back in 1976. He was one of the first ever Ohio EMT's and helped
his department grow from one station with a used pumper, to a fleet of 15
fire and EMS vehicles in 2 stations professionally staffed by 50 volunteers.
We've been on some serious runs together, but none like the one he turned out
for in 1991. As Firefighter and EMT's, turning out and responding to what ends
up being a call for a member of your family, is about as tough as it
gets. The worst day.
This is about Fire Chief Andy Mitten's worst
day. His daughter Dee Dee was killed in a car crash in 1991 that
he-and his daughter Melissa (then an EMT with the HTFD) both responded to-and
arrived first due. When they did, they discovered his daughter Dee Dee was the
victim. Her life could not be saved. But through just a few moments he and his
wife had to make a decision later at the hospital, other lives were saved as
Dee Dee now helped others as an organ and tissue donor. Dee Dee's sister,
Melissa, was so motivated and impacted, that she became a nurse and
later started working for LifeCenter Organ Donor Network, http://lifepassiton.org following
her sisters tragic death. She is now the Director of Organ Operations, and
her sister's donation is what inspired her to start a career in organ donation.
As time has gone on, Andy has continued his role as
the Fire Chief in Harlan Township, President of the Warren County Chiefs, a
Risk Manager for the Kroger Corporation as well as the Safety Director at Kings
Island Amusement Park---along with many other related roles as well as a
Dad, husband and friend, always with his daughter Dee Dee in his heart and
mind.
MOBBED! One day in 2012, Andy was told he had been selected to
participate on a TV documentary about his volunteer fire
department-and he had to fly to Hollywood. Naturally, he was thrilled! Little
did he know....that his daughter Melissa had proposed-and had received
acceptance-to honor her Dad on national TV. She felt so strongly about doing
this for the life he has lead-while also drawing needed attention to organ
donations. In the episode of Fox's TV Show "MOBBED" hosted by
Howie Mandell, Andy is messed with ROYALLY. As the show goes on though,
and the "plot" is slowly unveiled, the Chief is truly
honored but also, the Mitten family actually has a surprise meeting with one of
the recipients and the family of another of Dee Dee's organs. The episode of
MOBBED is titled 'You Saved My Life'.
While I don't want to give away the entire show
(which can be viewed online-see below how to do so) you will love
some of the ways they "messed" with Andy---before he found out why he
was really there. The show celebrates the Chief who has served-and continues to
serve every day as a Firefighter, as well as honoring the memory of Dee
Dee. The show, hosted by Howie Mandel, combines a hidden camera with a flash
mob, resulting in a big surprise for Chief Mitten on the show....and all
along, he thought some "Hollywood Big Shots" wanted to do a
documentary on his fire department.
HERE
are links to the show-so you can watch the entire episode (open the link)
Over 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list in need of an
organ. This crisis within the USA is growing rapidly because on average there
are only 30,000 transplants performed each year. More than 6,000 people die
each year from lack of a donor organ, an average of 19 people a day. Between
the years 1988 and 2006 the number of transplants doubled, but the number of
patients waiting for an organ grew six times as large. And that's just the
USA-here is a LINK to the International picture: http://tinyurl.com/2n8tc8
PLEASE
take a few minutes and check out these links-and give serious thought to saving
more lives:
NOTE:
**You can unlock the full episode of MOBBED as described above now by signing
in to FOX.com and then connecting to a participating TV provider account;
OTHERWISE, episodes are available for viewing 8 days after the airdate which
was 1-2-13...so 1-10-13 is the "unlocked" date.
