Ann Arborite and Red Cross volunteer helps reunite man with daughter after Hurricane Isaac
A news photo taken in late August of a rescue during Hurricane Isaac in Louisiana set off a chain of events that reunited a father and daughter after a 16-year estrangement.
And an Ann Arbor woman helped facilitate all of it.
A man in Florida contacted the news wire the Associated Press and a Louisiana Red Cross chapter after seeing the photo of the man, who he thought could be his brother. The brother had disappeared during Hurricane Katrina, according to the Red Cross.
Debbie Kemp, an Ann Arbor resident who had deployed to the disaster zone with the Washtenaw-Lenawee chapter of the Red Cross, began researching the story and located the man in the photo, Larry Baily of Slidell, La. She tracked him down and arranged a conversation between Slidell and the Florida man, who realized they were not related.
Kemp helped Baily further when he was hospitalized with an illness. It was then Baily shared contact information for his estranged family, located on Orlando, Fla., and was reunited with his daughter after a 16-year absence, the Red Cross said.
Baily expressed gratitude for the efforts of Kemp and the Red Cross.
“Making one person happy, makes the deployment worthwhile," Kemp said in a statement.
Comments
David Frye
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 12:31 a.m.
Sorry to be the grammar scold, but "whom he thought could be his brother" should read "who he thought could be his brother." Rule of thumb: substitute "he/him" for "who/whom" in the phrase, rearrange as needed, and see if it still works. In this case: "he thought HE (not HIM) could be his brother."
xmo
Tue, Sep 18, 2012 : 11:07 p.m.
The American Red Cross has been doing this for over a hundred and thirty years! Whats the big deal! If they were part of the Federal Government, then this would be something but since they are independent, superior performance is expected! Please contribute what you can!
music to my ear
Tue, Sep 18, 2012 : 9:23 p.m.
that was so nice of ms Kemp to go above and beyond, she could have just said forget it 16 years ,they have a lot to catch up on. you must feel good about this story,it was a nice read I enjoyed