I would like to tell you the story of my father. I apologize as this has nothing to do with apnea.

My father’s name is Ellis Andrew Hinkle. Ely to his friends. Pops to his boys. He was born in Indianapolis on July 15th 1954 in the very same hospital that I now work for. My father married my mom in 1972 shortly after becoming pregnant with me. Despite having a full gymnastic scholarship, my father joined the army. He was immediately shipped to Vietnam. I do not know exactly what he did while he was there. I do know that sometime in 1973 while trying to escort some children across the border my father was involved in a very bad accident. Most of his bones were broken, and he almost bled out. He received several blood transfusions to keep him alive. After the accident he was sent to Germany where he served out his time on the Army’s ski team. He was discharged in 1979.

After the army the burden of young love proved to be too much for my parents. They were divorced soon after his discharge. My father immediately joined the Iron workers union to help support me. This proved to be a great decision for him as he went on to become union president, and head of the Indiana Emergency Task Force. You might know this organization as FEMA. The latter of these 2 while very exciting for him scared the shit out of the rest of us. He always seemed to be driving into things like the Okalahoma City bombing when most people were running from it.

On September 11th I was working as an Ironworker with my father. I will never forget it. We were 200 feet in the air when the news came. We had to immediately evacuate the job sight as the Indiana University Medical School where we were working is on the terrorist watch list. I will never forget the look on my father’s face as we watched the news feed. He however did not miss a step as he grabbed his tools and mine. He looked at me and said “take care of things while I am gone son.” My father spent the next 6 weeks at ground zero. I do not know if you remember the fire truck they dug out with the firemen still alive. That was my father. I do not think I missed a news feed of the event the entire time he was gone. I just wanted to see him.

My father returned from New York broken. They paid him very well for his time there. Unfortunately most of it went to therapy. Cleaning up body parts for six weeks will do that. He could not sleep. You see when he closed his eyes he replayed out the entire scene of the tragedy. My father resigned from FEMA shortly there after. To this day sometimes we will still find him crying over the entire ordeal.

Six weeks later we found out that my father had contracted Hepatitis C from the blood transfusions he had received due to his accident in the army. His liver went from stage 1 to stage 4 overnight. They gave him less then 5 years to live. So much tragedy in such a short time. Our family was all but broken at this point.

For those of you that have already done the math you know that this story has a happy ending. We did not give up on him as he would not give up on us. My father worked for 3 more years to reach retirement. We found doctors that were willing to help. The first treatment nearly killed a great man. It was all we could do to talk him into doing it a second time after the first treatment failed. The second treatment however was a success. My father has been in full remission for over 14 months. His liver has even begun to heal itself a little. They have told him that with the right diet regiment he could very well live out a normal semi-healthy life.

As we draw closer to the anniversary of 9/11 I ask that you remember and pray for men like my father. Men that sacrifice themselves by not turning away from danger, but running towards it to help. I believe that men like my father give us hope. I hope that one day I am able to become the great man that I see in him. Most fathers just put a roof over their children’s heads, provide clothing, and food. My father built a city around me. Then protected my right to live free in that city. My father is a living lesson in humanity. A true hero.

Thank You,

Rock Hinkle