Santa. That’s what I often heard him called. He was a mountain of a man with a long white beard. I saw him every time we went to Phoenicia to assist with fires, accidents, or rescues. He had a strong grip and no complaints as we sweated together on mountain rescues carrying tourists with broken ankles down steep, rocky trails.
When I heard the dispatch go out for Phoenicia on Saturday evening for an injured hiker in Fox Hollow, I was expecting a call for us to come assist. But when that request was made, it was because something else had happened on that dark, frozen slope.
By the time we arrived, Mike’s brothers had already gotten him into the ambulance and away. After hiking up to the original patient we took our positions and continued with the initial rescue. The whole time down I was thinking about Mike. I wanted to help accomplish the mission he had started in the way he would be proud to see it done.
I could turn this into a rant about ignorant tourists making poor decisions costing us more than just a Saturday night. Honestly, most of them don’t even know that we are all volunteers. Many just seem to expect the magical 911 elves to show up and make it better if things go sideways, all at the touch of a button.
Mike did what he did because he knew it was the right thing to do. He did it, we do it, for our neighbors, tourists, or family; it’s all the same. We do real-life things at the drop of the hat, at the expense of another billable hour or time with the family. For Mike, the expense was far steeper. But we do it because we care.
Maybe more younger men and women will start to join our ranks when they realize that tapping a glowing screen is meaningless compared to real work that can be done to help make a terrible situation end, or at least to make it a little better for someone else.
We are all humans. The machines don’t give a crap about us, and never will. It’s up to us to help us. Become a part of your community. Pick up a rope, a hose, an axe, or a stretcher. Keep your opinions to yourself and learn something useful. Be active in actually helping rather than just sisyphean activism. Get dirty. Participate in true human life by helping your neighbor, regardless of whether you agree with their opinions or choices. It’s called humility, it’s called duty, it’s called love.
Mike leaves a mountain-sized hole to fill in his grieving family, department, community, and these Catskills. He was a man with a heart so big that it burst.
We need more people like Mike Ryan in this world. Now more than ever.
Christmas won’t be the same without him.
Lieutenant Alex Klohe
Olive Fire Department.