From tragedy comes heroism
Manuel Chavez's little gesture was a big deal to an elderly couple displaced by Hurricane Katrina

Using a defibrillator, HFD paramedic supervisor Manuel Chavez shocks an unconscious man's chest in hopes of kick-starting his heart.

Story and photos by Dave Schafer

For four days, Mariruth, 81, and Richard Datzman, 83, were stranded in New Orleans, flithy floodwaters surrounding them as Hurricane Katrina raged. After a helicopter rescue, they were put on a crowded bus to Houston.

Nine hours later, at 11 p.m., the Datzmans arrived at the Astrodome. But the dome was full, so the bus circled the dome until 6 a.m., when it dropped them off at Reliant Center.

Their daughter, who lived in Montgomery County, was out of reach for the two evacuees. They didn’t know what to do.

That’s when Capt. Manuel Chavez, a paramedic supervisor at Station 29, came to their rescue, the Datzmans wrote. Chavez called her and made arrangements for the reunion.

Until he called her, the daughter hadn’t known what had happened to her parents.

Half an hour later, Chavez returned to check on the Datzmans, and he told them he was getting off shift. Because congestion was so heavy around the Reliant Center, he offered to take the weary couple to meet their daughter.

Chavez drove them to the Interstate 45 off ramp, and insisted they stay in his car until their daughter and son-in-law arrived. Seeing the emotional reunion made his effort worth it, Chavez said.

“You’re in a situation where, despite everything these people have gone through, they still have a smile on their face. And they’re willing to wait outside to meet with family. It made me want to do something, anything, to help them,” he said.

“It wasn’t much, but I knew anything would help.”

To the Datzmans, Chavez’s gesture was significant.

“Capt. Chavez showed great consideration and concern,” they wrote. “His kindness ended our ordeal with a reassurance of the goodness of strangers and the hospitality of Houston.

“Capt. Manuel Chavez was our savior.”

Chavez is one of many city employees commended in this issue of Extra Milers for kelping Katrina and Rita evacuees.

Chavez wasn’t alone in becoming a hero to evacuees. This edition of Extra Milers includes several commendations for city employees who helped Katrina and Rita evacuees.

“Every single Houstonian – not just firefighters or police officers or even city employees – should be proud of how they reacted in the wake of these catastrophes,” Mayor Bill White said. “The actions of Capt. Chavez and thousands of others made a real difference in the lives of others, and they won’t soon be forgotten.

“Helping our fellow Americans in a time of need is more than being a good neighbor or a good citizen. It’s being a good person, and if the situation were reversed, we’d hope to get this kind of help from our neighbors.”

Chavez, 45, a 20-year Fire Department veteran, was at the Astrodome when the first Hurricane Katrina evacuee buses arrived. He estimates he helped about 17,000 evacuees off those buses in the first two days.

It was a long, draining shift, but it affected him for the better, Chavez said. After 48 hours, he left – as he does many days after a shift – determined to be a better father, husband and son.

“It was emotionally and physically draining to see such despair,” he said. “There were hundreds and thousands of people who were affected by what happened in those days. They were affected for the better. It makes you want to be a better person.”

“And you hope it never happens to your family.”

Helping those in need isn’t new to Chavez. Or, he’s quick to point out, to his fellow firefighters and paramedics. The fire department is full of people who perform heroic deeds every day. He just had a letter written about him.

Seventeen years ago, Chavez started the firefighter’s calendar to help burned and crippled victims.

He got the idea after working with a badly burned 14-year-old boy. “I just wanted to do something for him, because it devastated me,” he said.

The firefighter’s calendar was the first of its kind in this area, he said. Now, many local fire departments produce and sell one.

His line of work is about helping the public however he can, Chavez said.

“That’s why we do the things we do,” he said. “It’s a special type of person who does this job. When the public really needs us, we go above and beyond the calling of our office to help them.

“It’s not something you’re born with. It’s something you’re trained in. And the fire department does a good job of training that.”