April 19, 2008 -- Also now laughingly known as the "Four Seasons Car Wash". This was one for the record books.
But this one for someone very special, this one was for "one of their own" ... This one was for Matt Simmons.
Wrong!
One or two cars trickled in, and we all had plenty of time in between to stand around chatting and sharing laughter, as we tried to stay warm under the pop up tents.
At this point, the best things we had going for us were hot coffee provided by the River Road Starbucks, and sticky sweet donuts donated by the South Hill Krispy Kreme. Not a bad way to start.
Another nice touch were the small disposable hand/toe warmers provided by the South Hill G.I Joe's ... Really glad we thought of those, as the temps dropped.
But it must have been all of the heart and good-doers that made it feel warm and called forth the sunshine and cars that began arriving. A good number of them weren't worried about getting a car wash, they were there to help the heroes who help us all. And they were there to give back. That alone warmed us all.
Each car was offered a hot cup of Starbucks as well as the kneeling 9-11 statuettes that we have given out for the past three years. We hope each time they look at it, they remember Matt and all of the heroes who are more than willing to risk it all to keep them safe.
Lunchtime brought out the sun and hot, delicious Papa John's Pizzas to warm us from the inside out. Bonus: Hot pizza keeps your hands warm!
The weather was just unreal! We went from rain and light snow to sun shine, sleet, rain, hail, sun, rain, and so on. But still the cars came!
Firefighters and EMT's showed up from all around our area. Uniforms represented Bates Tech Fire Services (With two of our favorite heroes, Pat Piper & Jim Anderson doing their share to help), Ruston, University Place, Peninsula, Orting, Rural-Metro, as well as members of the HeroToHero.US teams, Air Force & Army. Everyone did their part. Everyone braved the elements, and everyone was there for the right reason ... Matt Simmons & his family.
By the time the event was over, there was over $3,500 raised -- in rain, snow, & hail!
We salute everyone who gave their time, their support, and their money. Thank you all for letting us be a part of this wonderful day!
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**Read Kathleen Merryman's TNT story about Matt's plight ...
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/columnists/merryman/story/318301.html
Firefighter’s only hope for his health: Denver research hospital
KATHLEEN MERRYMAN; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: March 26th, 2008 01:00 AM | Updated: March 26th, 2008 06:41 AM
Matt Simmons is one of the people we Americans like to call heroes. He’s a first responder, a professional emergency medical technician and a volunteer firefighter.
Since 2002, he’s answered our panicked calls when we’ve crashed, fallen, gone into cardiac arrest or suffered diabetic shock. He’s been the breath of life for scores of desperately ill or injured people. His employer, Rural/Metro Ambulance, named him its EMT of the year in 2004 and 2006.
As a volunteer with Riverside Fire Department, he’s graduated from the district’s fire academy, pulled shifts at the station and responded to calls on his own dime and time.
Now he’s fighting for his own life.
He and his wife, Michelle, figure he was putting in 100 hours a week at his job, training and volunteering in November 2006.
It was all for the family’s future.
He’d worked in restaurants and manufacturing and was in hislate 20s before he tapped into his passion for emergency medical care. He learned quickly and made great contacts throughout Pierce County. He planned to earn a fire service job in Pierce County. It would have been a job with a living wage and good insurance. In the meantime, the family rented a home and invested any left-over resources in their children, Kristina Workman, 17; Corey Workman, 15; and Kaitlin Simmons, 10.
He and Michelle joke that in late 2006, they never saw each other in daylight. She would be asleep when he crawled into bed. That’s why she did not see the sores on his legs until late November. The minute she spotted the ugly patches, she shoved him to the emergency room. Doctors tried to cure the sores and a persistent cough with antibiotics.
Those antibiotics were the first in a year and a half’s worth of treatments that have not helped him.
He’s spent seven weeks in hospitals, worked with the best local doctors, and had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tests, medicine and care, even a risky open-lung biopsy in February. Steroid treatments have added 70 pounds onto his frame.
But he does not have a diagnosis.
Without that, he won’t get better.
His best shot at that, his doctors have told him, is a trip to the National Jewish Research Center in Denver.
They want him to go. He wants to go.
But there is no money to do so.
There is only debt the family never imagined.
Matt had purchased insurance through work. A healthy guy, he did not notice the cap on benefits.
Sick as he was in the 2007 fiscal year, his treatments stayed under that cap.
But the surgical lung biopsy and over a month in the hospital slammed him through the ceiling by March.
“The cardio-thoracic surgeon called to ask if weknew that everything had been rejected,” Michelle said.
Michelle checked with the insurance company. There was no mistake.
The family filed a claim with the state Department of Labor and Industries, which rejected it.
They have applied for state benefits, including food stamps and financial assistance. The children are on state-subsidized insurance. Even if Matt gets onto it as well, the benefits will not be retroactive.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills will still be hanging over their heads. Michelle has not added them up, and does not know the actual amount.
Their friends at Rural/Metro are helping. A police chaplain is taking up a collection at the Tacoma Police Department. One of Matt’s firefighter friends is doing the same at the Tacoma Fire Department. Lakewood Baptist Church gave them money for rent. They have a donation account open in Matt Simmons’ name at all Wells Fargo Bank branches.
In a lovely gesture, their friend Crystal Rowden of Puyallup is donating all the proceeds of her children’s book “My Daddy Can Touch the Sky.” Rowden said it will soon be available on www.authorstobelievein.com.
All of this is good. These donations will keep the family warm, fed, and in their home. They may even raise enough to send Matt to Denver in search of a diagnosis. We can hope that Jewish Research Hospital will work out a manageable payment plan.
If treatment falls into the Simmons’ insurance’s next fiscal year, that might even be covered.
But, realistically, none of this will dent the Simmons’ massive medical bills.
Matt and Michelle have no idea how they will begin chewing away at them. They cannot imagine a scenario in whichthey can pay them all. All they see is a fight for life, followed by financial ruin.
Imagine a society, please, in which a hero who falls ill does not also fall through the holes in what we call a safety net.
Another effort to help him and his family get through it all ...
http://www.unitedfff.org/id17.html
There is another planned car wash and a spaghetti feed to futher the effort. At the spaghetti feed for the firefighters, there will be a silent auction. There are some great items already donated, but if you can donate a really nice item (large or small), they can still use it. Contact Ed Gorre, with Tacoma Fire Department.
Donations can be made through Wells Fargo Bank branches to help Matt. Give from your heart ... This is YOUR chance to be a hero to a hero!
lj
Tags: Matt Simmons, RiversideFire.us, Rural-Metro, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Krispy Kreme, United Firefighters Foundation, Kathleen Merrymen
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