NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — The people in the Hideaway trailer park in North Fort Myers often look out for each other. So, when uprooted trees took down power lines in the wake of Hurricane Ian, the park’s manager decided to check on a resident who relies on oxygen.
The man, an Army and Marine Corps veteran, was struggling and couldn’t access his oxygen tank, said Tony Moore, a maintenance worker who went with the park’s manager and recounted the story.
They called emergency services, but more than an hour later, no help had arrived. But members of the Cajun Navy, a volunteer group of military veterans who travel to help people during disasters, had also received a call. Courtney Allen, one of the volunteers, called the man and heard him meekly say “please hurry.”
Paramedics arrived at the same time as the volunteers, who helped them find the man’s home and avoid the downed power lines. A paramedic, Dustin McJury, gave him a squeeze bottle of oxygen that would last six hours, but urged neighbors and volunteers to find access to a generator and an extension cord.
Ron Richards had moved in a couple of weeks ago and had bought a generator that day, and Israel Benites heard people asking around for an extension cord and came outside with one that could stretch from Richards’ generator to the man’s apartment.
“We have a good neighborhood,” Benites, 26, said as he stood in a driveway full of puddles and debris from the storm. “I help people, and people help me.”