They say that cats have nine lives. This is based on the fact that cats are naturally curious and take risks to investigate things that are interesting or fascinating to them. It is then not surprising that my doctors have recently warned me that (1) I seem to have many cat attributes, and (2) that I am running out of my nine alloted lives.
I have worked in public safety since 1974, starting out in middle school as a Police Explorer. Fast forward 35 years to 2009 and factor in my years as a police officer, firefighter-paramedic, flight-medic and rodeo cowboy and you would expect me to have encountered at least a few life threatening moments. The Nine Lives Project will recount each of these moments and tell you what kind of impact they had on me and how they can impact you and your family.
Depending on how you count a “near miss”, I have but one coupon left to continue my journey on this planet. As you will eventually read in each of the Nine Lives blogs, I have had a ceiling collapse on me while trying to rescue a woman in a house fire; been shot at twice, been broadsided by a drunk driver, nearly struck my lightning during a bridge rescue, trampled in a rodeo accident and hospitalized for 18 days following a reaction to the drug Crestor.
This realization that I am on Life #9 should make me extra cautious in my endeavors, but I doubt it will change me much. The one common theme in almost all of these events is humor. I seem to always find something funny even during a moment of extreme danger. Humor has always been a stress release mechanism for public safety workers and I am no exception.
I hope you enjoy reading about these adventures!
The first one is called “Alachua House Fire” and has a link on the right side margin. I will post future events in the coming weeks.
