HOW TRAGEDY AFFECTS FIRST RESPONDERS

This weekend was awful. The amount of tragedy, the loss of life, the senselessness of it all, left most of us feeling devastated and deeply saddened as we learned that while the nation was trying to understand what had happened in El Paso and Ohio, Texas City had to try to understand that another of our youth had been lost in a terrible accident, on a quiet Sunday afternoon, on our main thoroughfare. As onlookers gathered trying to discern what had happened, first responders appeared out of nowhere and immediately went to work. Police, fire and EMS came together as one to get the young men out of the vehicle and get them medical assistance. It is rare that we consider how these heartbreaking incidents impact the people who respond, who have to speak to loved ones at the worst moment of their lives; who run toward the danger, the sadness, the reality of unfathomable loss. This weekend was awful. The consequences of what happened will resonate for years to come. It is impossible to imagine what the families of those involved are feeling or how it affected those involved but seemingly, physically unharmed. We keep them in our prayers. Actions have consequences. Perhaps those of us who are present at a terrible accident like the one Sunday, should think before pulling out our phones and filming another person’s worst moments. Perhaps posting something like that on social media where it will live on forever, is not a kindness. People did stay back out of the way and cars driving by were respectful and kept moving. Most had no idea there had been a loss of a young life and many bowed their heads in silent prayer. How these men and women who run toward the tragedy manage to cope is difficult to imagine. They see us at our absolute worst – terrified, devastated, bleeding, hurt – and they do their jobs. They take care of us, rescue us, comfort us, guide us through something we cannot possibly understand. And when they are done, they go home to their families, with this day still on their hearts. And tomorrow, they will get up and do it again.