My name is David Whitt. I am a 42 year old man and I have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. My wifes name is Laurie and we have two little girls, Madalyn and Sophia. They are ages 7 and 8, soon to be nine.
Id like to share some of my journey with you. I grew up in a Christian home with great parents who always gave me what I needed to excel if life. I dont think I always let my parents know this, but it is the truth.
I have been involved in law enforcement for the past 17 years. I first started my career in Ohio, where I worked for 10 years and have been in Florida for the past 7 years. Law Enforcement has always been my first love. When I became an officer as a young man, I had no idea how it would shape my life or how it would add to the demise of my health. I do not know for sure if law enforcement is the cause of my disease; however, all of the stress and physicality of the job, probably helped to weaken my body as it was attacked by the disease.
One thing I learned early in my life is that whatever I do, make sure I do it to the best of my ability. Im not comfortable sharing with others about the good things I have accomplished as some people may consider me a "has been". To me, this is when someone does just that, they tell stories about what they have done or how great they are. I can only say that I have always done the best that I could with all of my knowledge and training.
I learned early in my career that being good to everyone the first time you meet them is much easier than starting out on the bad foot. I then discovered that helping others is the most fulfilling thing I could do. I have always applied these two personal rules and it helped make my many years in law enforcement much easier.
I want to fast forward to the last 5 years. I came to Collier County Florida with lofty goals and aspirations of my career moving into high speed. I wanted to be at the pinnacle of my career as soon as possible and Collier County was going to be the place to do it. The first goal I set was SWAT. I came from a very well organized SWAT team in Ohio. I knew Collier had a first rate team and I wanted to be part of it.
I continued my strong regime of exercise training when I arrived in Collier. Madalyn was born shortly after arriving in Naples. To Lauries credit, she had a 2 year old and a new born to raise while I was working and concentrating on me.
Sometime during the second year of being with the Agency, I thought that I must have injured myself in some way because I felt tightness in my legs and back. Little did I know this was the beginning of the end of my dreams.
One night, while on vacation in Ohio, Laurie and I decided to exercise. We began to run and all of the sudden my right leg just would not work and it caused me to trip. After several instances of tripping over my right foot, I looked at Laurie and stated that there was something seriously wrong with me.
I slowed my training to walking the babies around the complex and then started to constantly overheat while in the sun. Although I continued to struggle physically, I started pushing myself to go to the gym, doing whatever I could. I did not stop working or tell anyone about my issues and just continued to work my regular shift along with overtime whenever possible.
11-14-08 is a date that will be with me forever. I was involved in an on-duty shooting and had to fire my weapon to stop a bad guy from hurting other people. No-one was hurt except for the man I fired at; however, my body felt as if it had been shot. It was screaming at me to stop the pain and stress - Multiple Sclerosis was now the bad guy attacking me.
I went to the doctor shortly after the shooting and after many tests, some which were extremely painful, I finally had a confirmation of what was wrong with me; it was MS. My initial reaction was to Praise God that it wasnt something worse. Next began the cycles of MRIs, Medicine and Therapy and I still wasnt worried Up until this point of my life, I had never been sick or hurt and this was not going to beat me.
In a previous paragraph, I bold typed I and ME and this was not a mistake. Several beautiful and wonderful things were happening during this difficult time of my life and it really was all about I and Me.
I do believe that God knew the only way to slow me down and make me focus on what was important, was to bring the MS into my life. After about a year of trying to work through all of the pain and stiffness that was constantly occurring, I decided to take some time off from work because I did not feel well. I lost all of my overtime and was now burning through sick and vacation time. Most of my medical bills were being paid; however, many other bills were mounting up. I went back to work only to have Laurie become sick from stress. I felt like I hurt my wife.
Things changed. Reality hurts and it was time for me to adjust. I have the most beautiful family blessed by God and I knew that I had to get my life and family back together before it all fell apart. So many times I thought things were going to be OK and then everything would fall apart again - financially, personally and at work. I knew the Holy Spirit was with me and calling me back to church.
The only things important were to become a better father, husband, and man. I knew these things were most important because of the examples my father had given me. My wife and I made a commitment to one another and decided it was time for us to make a commitment to our children. This chapter in OUR lives is better than any job I could ever have.
I continue to work as an LEO in a different capacity and it has been wonderful. Sacrifice. What a word. We know we have made mistakes which resulted in our falling behind with financial commitments; but we also know that our future is bright. Over the course of the last few years, we have made adjustments to begin fulfilling our obligations; however, the overdue medical bills and past due expenses are so overwhelming; we just cant seem to make any headway.
We have been truly blessed by God with all things given to our family and are looking forward to the day when we are in a position to help others and pay it forward. Prayerfully, with your support; that time will be sooner, rather than later. Thank you for your prayers as Laurie, Madalyn, Sophia and I work as a team, through God, and continue our journey.
Sincerely, David Whitt
Id like to share some of my journey with you. I grew up in a Christian home with great parents who always gave me what I needed to excel if life. I dont think I always let my parents know this, but it is the truth.
I have been involved in law enforcement for the past 17 years. I first started my career in Ohio, where I worked for 10 years and have been in Florida for the past 7 years. Law Enforcement has always been my first love. When I became an officer as a young man, I had no idea how it would shape my life or how it would add to the demise of my health. I do not know for sure if law enforcement is the cause of my disease; however, all of the stress and physicality of the job, probably helped to weaken my body as it was attacked by the disease.
One thing I learned early in my life is that whatever I do, make sure I do it to the best of my ability. Im not comfortable sharing with others about the good things I have accomplished as some people may consider me a "has been". To me, this is when someone does just that, they tell stories about what they have done or how great they are. I can only say that I have always done the best that I could with all of my knowledge and training.
I learned early in my career that being good to everyone the first time you meet them is much easier than starting out on the bad foot. I then discovered that helping others is the most fulfilling thing I could do. I have always applied these two personal rules and it helped make my many years in law enforcement much easier.
I want to fast forward to the last 5 years. I came to Collier County Florida with lofty goals and aspirations of my career moving into high speed. I wanted to be at the pinnacle of my career as soon as possible and Collier County was going to be the place to do it. The first goal I set was SWAT. I came from a very well organized SWAT team in Ohio. I knew Collier had a first rate team and I wanted to be part of it.
I continued my strong regime of exercise training when I arrived in Collier. Madalyn was born shortly after arriving in Naples. To Lauries credit, she had a 2 year old and a new born to raise while I was working and concentrating on me.
Sometime during the second year of being with the Agency, I thought that I must have injured myself in some way because I felt tightness in my legs and back. Little did I know this was the beginning of the end of my dreams.
One night, while on vacation in Ohio, Laurie and I decided to exercise. We began to run and all of the sudden my right leg just would not work and it caused me to trip. After several instances of tripping over my right foot, I looked at Laurie and stated that there was something seriously wrong with me.
I slowed my training to walking the babies around the complex and then started to constantly overheat while in the sun. Although I continued to struggle physically, I started pushing myself to go to the gym, doing whatever I could. I did not stop working or tell anyone about my issues and just continued to work my regular shift along with overtime whenever possible.
11-14-08 is a date that will be with me forever. I was involved in an on-duty shooting and had to fire my weapon to stop a bad guy from hurting other people. No-one was hurt except for the man I fired at; however, my body felt as if it had been shot. It was screaming at me to stop the pain and stress - Multiple Sclerosis was now the bad guy attacking me.
I went to the doctor shortly after the shooting and after many tests, some which were extremely painful, I finally had a confirmation of what was wrong with me; it was MS. My initial reaction was to Praise God that it wasnt something worse. Next began the cycles of MRIs, Medicine and Therapy and I still wasnt worried Up until this point of my life, I had never been sick or hurt and this was not going to beat me.
In a previous paragraph, I bold typed I and ME and this was not a mistake. Several beautiful and wonderful things were happening during this difficult time of my life and it really was all about I and Me.
I do believe that God knew the only way to slow me down and make me focus on what was important, was to bring the MS into my life. After about a year of trying to work through all of the pain and stiffness that was constantly occurring, I decided to take some time off from work because I did not feel well. I lost all of my overtime and was now burning through sick and vacation time. Most of my medical bills were being paid; however, many other bills were mounting up. I went back to work only to have Laurie become sick from stress. I felt like I hurt my wife.
Things changed. Reality hurts and it was time for me to adjust. I have the most beautiful family blessed by God and I knew that I had to get my life and family back together before it all fell apart. So many times I thought things were going to be OK and then everything would fall apart again - financially, personally and at work. I knew the Holy Spirit was with me and calling me back to church.
The only things important were to become a better father, husband, and man. I knew these things were most important because of the examples my father had given me. My wife and I made a commitment to one another and decided it was time for us to make a commitment to our children. This chapter in OUR lives is better than any job I could ever have.
I continue to work as an LEO in a different capacity and it has been wonderful. Sacrifice. What a word. We know we have made mistakes which resulted in our falling behind with financial commitments; but we also know that our future is bright. Over the course of the last few years, we have made adjustments to begin fulfilling our obligations; however, the overdue medical bills and past due expenses are so overwhelming; we just cant seem to make any headway.
We have been truly blessed by God with all things given to our family and are looking forward to the day when we are in a position to help others and pay it forward. Prayerfully, with your support; that time will be sooner, rather than later. Thank you for your prayers as Laurie, Madalyn, Sophia and I work as a team, through God, and continue our journey.
Sincerely, David Whitt
I wish you the best!
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