WAUKESHA, Wis. — As Waukesha gets ready to welcome back families for the return of the Christmas parade, some people will be joining in for the first time, not just from the area but from other parts of the country and world.
“We’ve been doing this for over 20 years and there is always going to be things you remember, where you were, what you were doing. I will just never forget the way that it transpired,” said Chris Anderson, the director of operations for Bell Ambulance.
He was part of the Waukesha Parade tragedy response that night. Anderson coordinated the ambulances used to transport victims from Waukesha Memorial Hospital, where the victims were first taken after the attack to other trauma centers.
“We got a call from the hospital shortly after the parade tragedy. They said we are going to have to send some people to other facilities and other hospitals, whether it be Children’s Hospital or Froedtert. Can you help us? Of course, the answer is yes. So we sent every ambulance on duty not just in our Waukesha operation but from Milwaukee as well,” said Anderson.
Bell Ambulance had not taken part in the parade in the past, but this year Anderson says they felt compelled to join in.
“This is a little way we can help to give back,” said Anderson.
“I just want to let them know that my heart's with them, and I just can't imagine what they went through,” said Karina Longfellow who will be volunteering for the Waukesha parade.
She is driving in from Valparaiso, Indiana to do it. She has never been to Waukesha, but she says growing up her dance team marched in dozens of parades and she kept thinking about the Extreme Dance team that was hurt while marching and knew she had to find a way to show them and the other victims that they were supported.
“I know in my hometown if this happened it would kinda go the same way where everyone would rally up together and help anyone they can,” said Longfellow.
That small hometown feeling is exactly why Kaileigh Donelle says she will be watching all the way from Canada. She joined a Facebook group to tell the victims of Waukesha that they were supported and found others from Canada and across the world felt the same. And now they plan to watch online together.
“There's a lot of discussion from Australia, England, people all over the world that had started saying, 'How do we watch the parade?' And even discussing just emotionally being able to be in a group together and comment together while watching it, sort of the same emotions of the community. I think a lot of the posts across the country, across the continent, across the world, have just been. We feel a part of the community without being a part of the community,“ said Donelle.
Anderson says some of the Bell Ambulance workers who responded that night will also be here standing along the parade route with their families to show their support for the victims and the return of the parade.