In a Moment’s Notice…
By Chief Fred Maas, Interim City Manager

It is only two hours before the Commission Meeting on February 16, 2006. Ironically, we will be doing a special presentation to three of our Sunny Isles Beach lifeguards and recognizing them for saving the lives of several people in two separate ocean incidents.
Equally as ironic, I will ask the same people in that Commission Chamber tonight to pause and in silent prayer, remember the young deputy from Broward County who was tragically killed less than 24 hours ago on I-595 while doing his job.

Yes, we will be thanking several heroes and we will be praying for the soul of another. All of them are young, dedicated, take risks for you and me, and are only a few years apart. The biggest difference is that 3 of them will go home tonight after their award and recognition but the other one; well, we will now begin preparations for his funeral.

A little more IRONY? The deceased deputy, named Ryan Seguin, all of 23 years old, and a 3-year veteran, was just recently honored for saving the life of a child. How? The child was drowning and Deputy Seguin rescued and revived him. Only to lose his own life, several months later. IRONY, SAD and Heartbreaking but IRONIC.

It is the risk we take for the choice we make. We could have chosen from a thousand other professions, most of them low risk and higher paying. But none of them offer that one common theme of the chance to make a difference today and possibly SAVE A LIFE!!
When is the last time you took a moment to go out of your way or simply walk up to a public safety person and say “Thank You” for what you do and the risk you take.

Whether it is a lifeguard, a police officer, a firefighter or rescue paramedic; when is the last time you said “Thanks.” It is too late for any of us to say thank you to Ryan, the Broward Deputy. But it isn’t too late to say thanks to Chris and Luis and Marco, our lifeguards being honored tonight. And it’s not too late to say thank you to the rest of our dedicated lifeguards and public safety personnel when you next see them on the beach, or in the street or in your building or in the store. Don’t wait; tomorrow may be too late to say what you wanted to, today. And it is simply this: “Thank You for what you do…”

I will close by telling you one last bit of irony. Ryan’s father was also a law enforcement officer who ironically just retired from the job in Fort Lauderdale Police Department. And I will bet my heart that he would trade places with his son, if he could. Please keep the SEGUIN family in your prayers. They have a very, very tough road ahead of them. God Bless You All and God Bless America and our Public Safety Personnel!

Your Chief

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