Huron Expositor, 2017-06-28, Page 17Wednesday, June 28, 2017 • Huron Expositor 17
Clinton native's photo selected for 9/11 Tribute Exhibition in New York City
Sheila Pritchard
Postmedia Network
Lauralee Veitch, originally
from Clinton, has been hon-
oured to have her photo chosen
for display at the permanent
exhibition at the 9/11 Tribute
Museum in New York City.
The 9/11 Tribute Museum,
originally founded in 2006
and reopened this year in an
expanded location, tells the
stories of the victims of the
9/11 terror attacks
Since its inception, the 9/11
Tribute Museum has wel-
comed more than four million
visitors from around the world,
offering daily guided tours of
the rebuilt World Trade Center
site led by people with close
personal connections to the
tragedy, including attack survi-
vors, first responders, recovery
workers and relatives of the
dead.
Veitch, who is now based in
Texas, has been donating her
photography service to the
National Volunteer Fire Coun-
cil (NVFC) for several years,
and was approached to have
one of those photos show-
cased in the 9/11 Museum
"Seeds of Service" exhibit.
"Seeds of Service" is a digital
exhibit that inspires visitors to
choose a service project and
community engagement.
"The exhibit is towards the
end of the 9/11 Museum dis-
play and introduces the pos-
itive organizations and pur-
poses that have evolved
since 9/11, identifying the
good that has come from this
tragedy," says Veitch.
Veitch became involved in
this project through the
NVFC, which she had been
volunteering with since 2014.
"My volunteer work with
them was to capture and pro-
vide firefighting/EMS photos
of events and personnel for
use in their online and print
information to help promote
firefighter wellness and infor-
mational resources for any
requiring support."
The NVFC provides
resources and help programs,
as well as education and
recruitment. Veitch has sup-
plied several photographs for
their "Share the Load" cam-
paign, which helps EMS per-
sonnel find emotional and
mental support and resources
while in crisis.
Veitch says her photo was
chosen because of her rela-
tionship with the NVFC and
its commitment to aiding
EMS personnel health and
wellness. "The NVFC had
been requesting actual event
photos to use for its resources
and this was one of the many
photos I had submitted."
When asked about the
inspiration behind her
selected photograph, Veitch
says the photo was taken on
Super Bowl Sunday in 2015
when the fire department she
volunteers her photography
services with received a call
for an apartment fire. "Units
responded on a very windy
day to a two-story apartment
engulfed in flames. As the
flames were brought under
control, a few of the firefight-
ers noticed a dog on the sec-
ond floor balcony of one of
the units," recalls Veitch. "A
firefighter ascended the lad-
der and managed to save a
dog. After a little oxygen the
dog was returned to his grate-
ful owners."
It was by chance, that
Veitch got into photography
in the first place. "You might
say I stumbled into a love of
photography, [it's] not my
career path but an interest-
ing hobby never the less,"
she explains. "I was hired at
the Harris County Medical
Examiner's office as a Foren-
sic Nurse Death Investigator
in 2007 and lived the life of a
CSI for the next four years.
Included as part of our
duties were attending the
scene of a death and per-
forming scene forensic pho-
tography." With that duty,
says Veitch, she was given a
high quality DSLR camera to
operate and was permitted
and encouraged to take it
home and practice with it.
"My husband volunteers
with our local fire depart-
ment here in the Houston
area and I was welcomed to
take scene photos at their
responses. I've been a mem-
ber of Community Volunteer
Fire Department since 2009."
It is "definitely an adrena-
line rush," says Veitch, about
being on the front lines with
emergency responders. "And
then [it's] another adrenaline
rush when you see the smoke
plume from afar and realize
this is something." She says
her fire department
responded to over 8,000 calls
last year, and though most
were medical in nature, the
department also has ambu-
lances to cover medical needs.
Veitch says it is different from
Courtesy of Lauralee Veitch
Veitch's photograph (pictured) was chosen for display at the
9V11 Tribute Museum.
what she was used to in Can-
ada, specifically Clinton, hav-
ing a separate EMS (paid) and
Fire Service (not paid).
Veitch says despite cur-
rently living in Texas, her
Clinton and Huron County
roots are still important to
her. "I still follow Clinton
news quite closely. I share
the weight of the recent fire
on Main Street, as many
Clintonians do. My immedi-
ate family still resides in or
around Clinton and Huron
County." 1.
Veitch says it is an honour
to have been selected to be
included in both the NVFC
and the 9/1 1 Tribute
Museum. "Never in my wild-
est dreams would I have
imagined having any contri-
bution to the 9/11 Museum.
It's such an important event
in our history; I'm honored
to share an image for their
permanent display"
Expanding on the "The
Share the Load" campaign,
Veitch says the NVFC has
introduced the campaign to
bring a very important issue
to light: Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder in First
Responders. "First Respond-
ers all over th,g world are
exposed to sights and
instances the rest of us can't
imagine," says Veitch.
"Unfortunately some of
those sights linger in their
minds, whether it be a par-
ticularly tragic or horrific
event or simply long-term
exposure to the sights of the
job over years of exposure.
'Ihe NVFC is trying to make a
difference to those strug-
gling with P"I'SD by provid-
ing information and
resources to ease the strug-
gle" The NVFC has produced
several publications of news-
letters to provide informa-
tion and Veitch says she has
been lucky to have some of
my images included to assist
their cause. "The July issue of
the Journal of Emergency
Medicine features a pullout
poster displaying one of my
photos to reach EMS provid-
ers across North America.
The NVFC provides options
to both large and small
departments that may not
have the funding big cities
do to offer Employee Assis-
tance Programs.
Veitch says her aspirations
for the future include staying
in Texas, while building her
non-profit organization to
support the PTSD campaign.
"Currently we have no plans
to move back north. It's hot
down here but you don't
have to shovel it! My regular
job is as Registered Nurse in
the operating room but I do
love photography,
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For her selected photo, Veitch
captured the harrowing
rescue of a family's dog from
a burning building. The pet
was returned safely to relieved
owners by EMS responders.
and specifically fire ground
photography. I have just
started a non-profit organi-
zation with the hope of pro-
viding support to the PTSD
awareness campaign." With
two local firefighters from
Veitch's department recently
losing the battle to PTSD,
there is more work to be
done to get the word out that
`It's OK to not be OK: she
says. With June being PTSD
Awareness month, Veitch
has started a wristband cam-
paign to raise funds for First
Responder PTSD Awareness.
"Money received will be
donated to the NVFC "Share
the Load Campaign," says
Veitch.
For more information
about the "Seeds of Service"
exhibition at the 9/11 Tribute
Museum visit
www.911tributemuseum.org.
To learn more about the
National Volunteer Fire
Council visit www.nvfc.org.
To see more of Veitch's
photographs visit her per-
sonal Facebook page or her
Facebook photo page: Image
N That Photography.
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