Firefighter killed in motorcycle crash
Updated: Sunday, 11 Mar 2012
Chase Cain
Orlando - The ride home from Bike Week proved deadly for an Orlando firefighter. 54 year-old Dannis Bish died when a car turned in front of his motorcycle on East Colonial Drive Saturday night.
Bish's wife Jayne was also on the bike. She remains at Orlando Regional Medical Center with critical injuries.
A third biker, 52 year-old Robert Martinausky, also suffered serious injuries. Witnesses say he managed to survive because he dropped his motorcycle on its side and slid across the pavement to avoid the car.
The three were riding back to Orlando with the "Nam Knights" from events at Bike Week.
read more here
How do you make sense out of something like this? I was at the Nam Knights Bike Week Party, as usual, with my camera rolling. The video of the bike week party was already on YouTube when we got the call about Dannis, his wife Jayne and Bob. I wanted to take it down but when I thought about the fact this is how Dannis spent his last day, it was too important to take down. Later I was looking at the footage, when I discovered this.
Dannis was in back, walking over toward Jayne, waving his arm and smiling. He spent his last day with his "brothers" in the Nam Knights. This is a family in shock trying to make sense out of this. The Nam Knights are closer to each other than any other group I have ever known.
What the news report did not include was the fact there were two Marines, also part of the Nam Knights, ahead of these bikes and several cars following them heading home with other members. The two Marines had past the intersection when the crash happened. They rushed over to Dannis, Jayne and Bob giving aid. The rest of the group saw it happen and couldn't believe any of it.
Dannis was a firefighter and ORMC emergency room was filled with firefighters waiting for word on Jayne because Dannis was taken to a different hospital and had already passed away. Another family left trying to make sense out of this.
The Nam Knights filled the parking lot of ORMC, waiting for word on Jayne and Bob and tried to comfort each other as much as possible. I want to thank the emergency room staff for their care and patience with being so overwhelmed by these two large groups.
In the video of the event, at 8:59, Dannis is holding a dollar bill for a Prospect right before he got his patch as a Nam Knight.
This is how Dannis spent his last day on this earth.
How do you make sense out of this? We really can't. Some will think it was just his time to go home to the Lord. Some will say it could have been any of us. Whatever we think, whatever questions we have, we will not know the exact answer until we are face to face with God and see Dannis again.
We can't make sense out of why Dannis was killed Saturday but we can learn something from his life. Dannis was also a Dad and husband. Each day he gave his best to his family just as he gave his best to his firefighter brothers and brothers in the Nam Knights. He put his own life secondary as a firefighter and the community was better off for his having lived. He put the Nam Knights before his own rest time and was always showing up to help. When Dannis was at the Club house, Jayne was right there on the back of the bike, hugging Dannis.
None of us know why this happened to them but all of us know that the time of our own death is secret to us. It is not how long we live but how we spend the time we have together that we are in control of. Dannis made choices in his life and those choices included many people left grieving because someone decided her time was more important than anyone else.
Thank you for posting Kathie!
ReplyDeleteNK Squiggy
Everyone is grieving for losing Dannis but we begin to heal when we remember having him in our lives. I hope that comfort will come remembering how he spent his last day surrounded by his brothers and friends.
ReplyDeleteDannis will be forever missed.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathie for posting.
NK Ruff & Sue
I had the opportunity to meet Dannis and Jayne a few months ago during my first experience at the Nam Knights Club and they were both incredibly friendly and welcoming as was each person I had an opportunity to speak with - something I wasn't expecting (sadly) as I was intimidated by stories I had heard from ignorant people in my past.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad to hear of the loss of someone like Dannis, especially at the hands of an inexperienced careless driver. You are right, Kathie, as long as we remind ourselves that he died doing what he loved surrounded by his brothers and friends and knowing he is in a much better place now eventually the sadness will go away. My prayer now is that his wife Jayne can heal both physically and mentally with the help of her family and friends who love her dearly.
Thank you Gwen for the beautiful comment.
ReplyDeleteRuff and Sue,
ReplyDeleteI sat with Dannis' daughter at ORMC and told her about his day. She took great comfort in knowing that he spent it happy with his brothers. I know the pain that comes with this with all of you but lean on each other the way you guys always do and gain strength from the love all of you share.
hard to believe this girl did not learn from the accident she was involved with 3 days prior on school property that also has left a teenage boy that was on a skateboard in serious condition. That accident didn't make the news because the school is trying to stay out of the media and the principle did not report the incident to the school board or the police. You have to wonder how different things might have been if that incident had been reported properly.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering when charges would be filed against her and what was taking so long. Now this! How could the school decide to keep it quiet and do nothing? What about the student?
ReplyDeleteYesterday I went to see Jayne in rehab. I lost count on the number of her wounds and broken bones. She lost her husband and now has a very long time of living in pain as she tries to get back on her feet.
If you know something please, for Heaven's sake, call a reporter so they can make this public. She should have lost her license after hitting another student but the school decided to do nothing? I didn't think this story could get worse. Heartsick!