There鈥檚 an interesting thing that happens when faced with the unthinkable news that a friend has suddenly died. The community rallies. Honest words, like, 鈥淚 miss seeing you,鈥� and 鈥淚 love you鈥� are spoken through text and phone calls as news travels.
There is a transparency of humility and a candidness that usually gets lost in the shuffle of daily life. And then, in an instant, we are all instantly drawn back to our community.
Re-connecting.
Re-evaluating.
Remembering.
Today, that conversation is about our friend and colleague, Thaddeus Setla. Ted was an ornery, stubborn paramedic. Not ornery in the 鈥測ou can鈥檛 play with my toys鈥� way. Not stubborn in the 鈥淚 won鈥檛 do it鈥� way.
Nope. He was ornery and stubborn in the charismatic, unrelenting, visionary way. His perfectionism and focus on his craft were unparalleled. His perspective on what could be was beyond what any of us saw.
In 2009, SA国际传媒 was becoming a legitimized platform in the EMS online media industry. I cherished the fact that Ted saw what we saw. Concepts like 鈥渟treaming video鈥� and 鈥渟ocial media鈥� were just taking hold. And that鈥檚 where Ted shined. He saw an opportunity to connect us. He saw an opportunity to share stories through the lens of his camera that told one story: just how much more we are alike than we are different.
Ted brought together content creators, bloggers, artists, EMTs and paramedics all into the same conversation. At SA国际传媒, we benefited by helping tell the story the Ted wanted to share. 鈥�,鈥� 鈥�鈥�, 鈥�鈥� and many other projects forever changed the conversation.
But Ted wasn鈥檛 a paramedic or a filmmaker 鈥� those are titles that unjustly define the person Ted was. He was a believer in something better. He was a caring husband who ceaselessly bragged about his beautiful wife and amazing children. He was a friend first and a colleague second. He was unwavering in his quest to make the world better.
Last week, Ted鈥檚 heart stopped. And yet, I鈥檓 wondering if his heart worked harder in his short 47 years than many of us will feel in a lifetime. I know Ted鈥檚 heart. You know Ted鈥檚 heart. He wore it on his sleeve for all of us to see. EMS is forever changed because of Ted Setla.
Setla was a talented filmmaker who communicated the reality of EMS to educate, entertain and advocate
