Bajagrande - 12-14-2004 at 11:45 AM
Manhattan Beach News
Firefighters seek money for Baja man?s wheelchair
by David Rosenfeld
Felipe Murillo Marquez of Manhattan's sister city Santa Rosalia is hoping to get a new wheelchair from sister city supporters.
When two Manhattan fire fighters traveled to the Baja California town of Santa Rosalia to teach residents life saving skills they met a 22-year-old
quadriplegic who touched their hearts.
Most everything in the town, located 600 miles south of San Diego, on the east coast of Baja, is primitive compared to the standards of its neighbors
north of the border. There are no 911 services. Fire fighters and paramedics are all volunteer responders. And the hospitals are badly in need of
supplies.
Fire Marshall Tim O?Brien and Fire Captain David Shenbaum met Felipe Murillo Marquez in mid-november when the two made a week-long trip to Manhattan
Beach?s sister city.
The 22-year-old became paralyzed almost completely from the neck down five years ago when he dove into shallow water while playing at the beach with
friends. He?s been getting around on an electric wheelchair, which he maneuvers with the limited mobility he has in his biceps and shoulders. The
chair is in need of a new motor, batteries and wheels. Without it, he?s completely dependent on others.
?We?ve committed ourselves to getting this thing fixed,? O?Brien said. ?We?re hoping we can get some generous people together to donate money. You see
the situation and think there?s just no way they would be able to get it fixed without some help.
The Manhattan men hope they can come up with the $3,000 needed to repair the chair or $5,500 to replace it. Money will come through donations to the
sister-city program or checks made out to the Manhattan Beach Firefighters Association earmarked for Marquez.
?We live in a country where a lot of people have the means,? O?Brien said.
The Sister City Program has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Santa Rosalia since the relationship began between the two cities 15 years ago.
The program provides student exchanges, environmental education, computer equipment as well as valuable medical treatment and supplies to the less
fortunate of the two cities. Three ambulances have so far been donated and a fourth is planned to arrive later next year.
The recent trip by O?Brien and Shenbaum was the first by Manhattan firefighters to teach hands-on paramedic skills. ?There were maybe two guys with
any training at all,? Shenbaum said.
O?Brien said the 39 people who came out to participate caught on quickly. They learned how to perform CPR, start IVs, stabilize a patient with a
possible neck injury and every other basic skill Manhattan paramedics perform. On the last day, the students impressed O?Brien and Shenbaum when they
put on a mock rescue of a simulated traffic accident.
In their free time, the two firefighters experienced life in Santa Rosalia. Many in the tiny village, population of 15,000, make their living from
squid fishing, hauling up their nets through turquoise blue water. Located in an arid desert with little vegetation, the mood in town is dusty. There
is only one paved street and virtually no tourism.
The city was created by a French mining company that in 1885 acquired one million acres to excavate copper in nearby hills. The company built a port
and most of the city?s structures. Though mining in the area stopped in the 1920s, today?s residents share much of their ancestors? resilience.
?The people down there are so great. They might have hardly anything but they?ll give whatever they have,? Shenbaum said. ?They do more with less and
they?re just appreciative of everything we can provide whether it?s training or equipment.? ER
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