SORRY

[fireseeker]

Thank you for allowing us to share our lives with your daughter. We will all miss her deeply, and because of her, we cherish life a little more. Thank you again for bringing such a gifted child for all of us to embrace. Although her time with us was short, her impact will never be forgotten.

M. Ryan


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fireseeker

[AVF&R452]

Mr.& Mrs. Mitchell:

I wish to take this opportunity to offer my sincere condolences at the loss of your daughter. Ashley's enthusiasm and determination gave many of us a chance to remember and reflect on the REAL reasons that we do what we do. She was truly special.

I also wish to apologize for the uncaring individual who posted on another thread. Thankfully, It appears that thread has been removed. I hope that you will not judge us all by the ignorance of a very small minority.

Again, My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Jim

[Pelican631]

My sincerest condolences and prayers are with you. As a firefighter who joined as a junior member at age 15, I know how enthusiastic Ashley must have been. Again, my prayers are with you and your family.

Andy Knitt

[spunk639]

Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell
I have sat here for quite some time trying to find a way to express to you my sorrow, and heart ache over the loss of your daughter Ashley. I sit here typing this with tear filled eyes. I am not a firefighter, I am a Paramedic and have been in EMS for 15 years. I have in that time seen far too many young and bright lives cut short and can not find a reason as to why. I spent the better part of this evening reading your daughters posts over again , I only wish that I could have met her. Sometimes in this strange and chaotic world we live and work in we become very cyannical. Things that should strike a deep cord in us does not. I want you to know that in your daughters short time here with us she affected people's lives she never met in a very positive way. How do I know this you may ask .......because I am one of those people she affected. Doing this work as I said you can become very cyannical and believe from repeated exposures to our troubled youth who are involved in gangs drugs and other anti social activities that our youth are lost and our futures as a whole looks bleak. Reading your daughters thoughts and questions changed that view for me. To see a child who showed so much enthusiasim and interest in helping and serving her community broke through the walls put up by this innercity medic and gave me hope that all our kids were not lost and good positive kids do exist, for that sir I can't thankyou enough for the way you raised your child. Writing this I do not know if I've caused you more grief......... why would God no matter how he is worshipped, would decide to take such a bright light from us. For whatever reason God wanted Ashley we may never know......but I know she is surely one of his Angels and the next time I enter a darkened tennament in the middle of the night, she will be there with me watching over myself, my partner, and the patient we were called to care for.
Ashley will always be with you and in many of our hearts and prayers.
In closing my deepest heartfelt sympathy for your loss.

Love and God Bless You.

SPUNK

[This message has been edited by spunk639 (edited October 13, 2000).]

[TeeJay]

Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell-
My condolences on the loss of Ashley. It's tragic that some one so young and full of life can be lost in circumstances as senseless as these. She touched a lot of lives here, and many tears are being shed for her. She will always be one of us. I'll take your advice and hug my own son and daughter with a little extra enthusiasm tonight. You and Ashley are in my thoughts and prayers.
Tom Jarvis

[webteam]

Dear Forum Posters

For the last day we have worked to verify the information in the posts by Ashley and her 'parents' that has consumed several threads.

Unfortunately, as happens on the Internet, the story has been found to be untrue...at least the tragic details.

After considerable research, we talked to Ashley's mother this evening who wanted to apologize to everyone on the forums for the energy that has been spent.

The young lady is indeed interested in the fire service and is an ace student, according to her mom, who wants to write books and be in the fire department.

However, she has not lost a brother to fire nor, thankfully, was she killed in a drunk driving accident last weekend. She is alive and well, which we hope everyone will be grateful for. Except for those details -- important as they may be -- the vast majority of her posts we believe were honest and sincere.

We are sorry this has happened, but as you know the Internet is somewhat of an anonymous
place. We are very thankful that this was not some elaborate hoax, but merely an very
enthusiastic young lady who may have been trying to find a way to quit posting on the forums with a very unfortunately worded story. Her parents had requested she not post after something similiar happened in the past, according to her mother.

Her mother assures us she has the best intentions and by her writing will certainly excel in that endeavor in the future. We expect a letter from Ashley sometime in the next few days to all posters.

Thanks for everyone's continued support. Despite this being false, had it been true you showed the incredible family that exists in the Firehouse.com Forums and what is possible for everyone to come together for a single cause ... we just hope you won't be deterred from responding and helping others in the future.

We'll assure you, just as we have done in this case, to check out any extraordinary requests or posts as quickly as possible.

Thanks
Firehouse.Com WebTeam