Thursday, April 3, 2008

The ties that bind

I've found when we meet someone, our paths usually cross again. It may not be immediately. It may be dozens of years down the road, but they cross again.

Tuesday night, this became a harsh reality for one of our reporters.

We were just doing what we do. We were following up on reports of a very serious crash in Nimishillen, Ohio. We tracked down the information. An Akron Canton Newsroom crew shot the scene. The webmaster way ahead of the pack on getting the story on our website. And we were the ONLY station to air the story Tuesday evening.

As usual with any story, you continue digging and updating with the latest details.

In the course of our quest for new information, we found that Channel 3 News reporter Paul Thomas had done a story last summer with one of the fatality victims.

Stephen Ellenberger died in this crash. 67-year-old Julius Weidinger was also killed in the accident.

Last August Ellenberger rescued a neighbor who was trapped under a nine-hundred pound table. Ellenberger lifted the table off 77-year-old Roy Burwell.

The Burwells were indebted to Stephen for his efforts last summer and are now grieving for this tragic loss.

Real life and the world of news is often stranger and more tragic than fiction.

No comments: