Submitted by: Blake Balsillie

My best friend is actually my ex-fiancee. Her name is Julie and she is the most giving person I have ever met. Currently she is deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan. There she goes on patrols outside the wire as she leads her team to find projects to help the local infrastructure. Her job then is to hire, pay, and supervise the local contractors and provide for their security. She has been there for 7 months now and will hopefully be back soon. Now, I know this is for 1st responders so that was just to let you know what this woman does in her spare time. Her full time job is as a paramedic in Pembroke, Ontario. She does the same things every other paramedic does so I won’t go into that. Julie has taken on the responsibility of ordering and organizing all of the supplies for the service that she works for. This often means going in on her days off in order to keep up with all of the demands. She is also the secretary of her union local and has been a big help in the negotiations that they were going through prior to her deploying. I know this Christmas will find her again asking for other helpers to help in the Santa Claus Parade that she is always involved in. She is the 1st one to help strangers or loved ones, asking nothing in return but a smile. The biggest reason for all this is because last winter we had a trip planned to the tropics but my Mom got sick. We canceled our plans and flew to Calgary. For the next 2 weeks Julie was able to make my Mom feel better about her illness, made the house ready for her return, and ensured that everything was set up for her care once we left. She did all this knowing that our relationship was changing but this is what she does for people she know. Julie, you will never know what that meant to us that don’t know the medical system. Thank you. And thank you that took time to read about my best friend.

Submitted by: caron harker

10 yrs. ago my husband, Jim, had a massive heart attack, full cardiac arrest at 48 yrs. old. He was away on business in Sydney, CB and the hotel he was in just happened to be close to the emergency responders and everything worked as the Dr. said the paramedics SAVED my husbands life.

We are forever grateful to them for their speedy reactions and knowledge. My husband had a miraculous recovery, the Drs. commented too that only for the paramedics my husband would never have survived. I tracked the two men down in CB and spoke to one of them, I wrote thank you notes to them both and couldn’t express enough how grateful our family was to them!!!!!

They are angels on earth, very helpful angels and too often go unrecognized!!!! A heartfelt thanks to all of our First Responders.

Caron Harker, Jim’s wife

Submitted by: curtis

Ever since I was six I have always wanted to help people, no matter the situation it could be a friend who just needs someone to talk to or someone needs a simple band aid whatever it is. I have always loved the feeling of helping others, so when I turned 18 last month I joined my local volunteer fire department. We’re not a big town, only around 2000 people plus the surrounding county and I haven’t gotten many calls, and any I have had have been small fires. Luckily I have not gone to a vehicle collision with fatalities yet and if I had it my way I would never have to, I’m scared of what I will do when I do see a bad scene how it well affect me… but I know that no matter the scene, I will do my best to help. I have taken as many courses as I can and I hope I’m ready for it.

The point of the this is that even though firefighters, police officers, and doctors get alot of credit and are called heroes which they are, I think there are everyday heroes everywhere in the world. For example as I have said our community is not very big but we are right near a major highway so there is alot of accidents. One day a women lost control of her vehicle rolled it a couple of times and smashed into a power line. The sparks lit the vehicle on fire in the back. This was early in the morning; luckily there was one other peson on the road who came up to the accident. They got out and without even thinking of their own life they ran up to the vehicle took out a knife and cut the seatbelt from the woman. He then dragged the 268 pound women out of the window because the door was jammed and got her away from the vehicle. Only a few seconds after they got out of the vehicle it blew up and the vehicle was engulfed with flames. That situation is just one of many that happen all around the world whether you are in the military, are a police officer or work at starbucks there are everyday heroes everywhere they just may not know it yet….

Submitted by: Kitty Darst

My nephew, Eshu E. Ryan, has been a firefighter in the city of Camden New Jersey and I have proudly worn various sweatshirts and tee shirts from his firehouse. His wife, Tania, is a policewoman. The two of them have two little girls who are so adorable it makes one want to cry looking at their photos! I worry about both of them all the time.