Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man, but it seems like every story I read about teenagers involves drug use, online sexual predators, violence, etc. So I feel honor bound to highlight this great story about one very brave 15-year-old kid in Colorado:
"I noticed the wind was kicking up, and you don't think fire, I just thought I want to get water down on the lawn, and my son goes dad, there's smoke up the road," JD’s father, James TenNapel, said.
With the clock ticking, TenNapel and his son jumped into action.
"We knew it was going to be bad, I told my son to get on his ATV and head up the road and tell the neighbors all north of the fire, because it was so fast, you just didn't know who was in distress,” TenNapel said.
Neighbors say flames were climbing a hundred feet high, smoke thickening the air, but JD headed straight into it.
"He went to every door he could, and he was coming back and the fire was coming over the road, and I saw his headlights," TenNapel said.
After warning neighbors, many of them elderly, JD was coming back to warn his dad.
"He just told me from the hospital, ‘Dad, if I didn't come through the fire, I knew you were going to get in your truck and try to find me,’ so he just floored it and came through."
JD suffered second degree burns to his arms, legs and back.
"We lost our first son stillborn, I only got one boy left, I’m just glad he’s here and ok, and they say he's going to be alright," TenNapel said.
But JD's heroics didn't stop when he got in the ambulance.
"There's kind of a narrow, a hollow area down there, and he knows there's an older person that lives there, and that's who he was trying to get to," TenNapel said.
The fire was moving too fast, and JD told his dad he knew he'd never make it in time.
"They put him in the ambulance, and he kind of coordinated with them that there's someone down there."
The woman's barn burned to the ground, but because of JD's description of where she lived, firefighters were able to save her life.
I asked TenNapel if he would call his son a hero: "Well he's my son, I’m glad he did what I told him to do, but I’m a little guilty, I’m a little emotional of what could have been," he said.
I grew up in Central Oregon dodging forest fires, so I know how dangerous and quickly these fires move. If you've ever seen one up close, to head right into one is a stunning act of bravery. JD's recently been flown to a burn unit in Sacramento, so keep him in your prayers.
And fun fact: JD is the nephew of Doug TenNapel, a really talented comic book and multimedia artist.
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Comments:
Sep '10
Re: Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
Nice to know that the kind of courage Doug TenNapel celebrates in his comics is in his own family! Great story.
Aug '10
Re: Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
I am glad he is doing well.
Well Done, JD.
Apr '11
Re: Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
He's a good kid.
Oct '11
Re: Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
I am great believer in the stories that are told; all will benefit from this story going far and wide.
I know a lot of teenagers and they have great potential. What they are lacking is context and stories like this to aspire to.
My father impersonated his brother in court for some minor infraction and did two days in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Why? Because his mother was a widow and his brother, at 16, was earning a paycheck. My father, at only 13, had no income and would only miss two days of school. My father's children and grandchildren heard that story told in a very funny way their entire lives.
Part of my family has recently suffered a devastating financial blow. Without exception, every one of my father's older grandchildren have risen to the occasion. College grads are offering to pay tuition for college students, college students are stepping in and encouraging high school students. High school students, as usual, are claiming they have homework when it's time to do the dishes.
They are listening. We just have to tell the right stories.
Edited on June 12, 2012 at 9:59pmJun '12
Re: Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
You know I bet for everyone involved drug use, online sexual predators, violence, etc there's ten just like this young man.
And he's a young man...not a kid.
Sep '11
Re: Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
Annefy: I am great believer in the stories that are told; all will benefit from this story going far and wide.
They are listening. We just have to tell the right stories.
I agree wholeheartedly. My grandfather told the story of Kitty Genovese, a woman who was killed in New York as neighbors listened--everybody "not wanting to get involved," or assuming someone else would intervene. Everyone got the message: when the situation arises where a voice in the crowd says, "gee, somebody oughta do something," that somebody is you.
That's as good a definition of manhood as I've ever seen. J.D. counts.
May '11
Re: Kids These Days... They're Not All Bad
He's a hero to me, and surely to the folks in his neighborhood. I hope his burns heal quickly. What a fine young man.