After Pulse: Bryan Batien

Posted on by Thor

Bryan Batien is a psychologist at the Orlando Veterans Administration Medical Center. After the Pulse nightclub massacre the Orlando VA offered significant volunteer counseling to members of the community, victims families and survivors.

The morning after the Pulse nightclub shooting Brian’s wife turned on the TV. News of the shooting was on all of the channels. They sat and watched all of the updates, feeling helpless. His wife is also a psychologist and they are used to working with trauma so they knew how devastating this would be for the community. They both wanted to help. They both work with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and realized this might trigger some of the vets they work with. They realized there might be a flood of people going to the Lake Nona clinic.

He texted his chief of psychology and said he could go into the VA if needed. Half an hour later he got a text back about the emergency response team. Bryan had been to the Institute of Disaster Mental Health so he and his wife had training in psychological first aid and responding to disasters and emergencies. The text response asked if he could get to the Hampton Inn in 45 minutes. This is where the families of victims and survivors were meeting. He had no idea what he would be doing at the location.

The Va sent several giant buses that can be used as portable offices and medical exam rooms. Families were there because they could not get a hold of their loved ones. Families were starting to collect there and waited, not knowing. A briefing was vague, they were asked to do what they can and answer questions. Give people water, guide them if they don’t know where to go. Just be there if people need to talk. As they identified the victims,  both in the hospital and deceased, they slowly figured out how to notify families. That went on throughout the night.

The second day they went to the Beardall Center and the process was much the same. They pulled in families one at a time, and the psychologists would be there with the family. Families saw other families come out of those rooms, so they suspected the outcome. But there is always the hope that their loved on was recovering in the hospital.

This was the first time he had to be involved in giving death notifications. The first time he entered one of the rooms with a family, he didn’t know what to expect. After being told, the family would be in the room for quite a while.  When hope was shattered there would be a floodgate of emotion, grief, sadness, loss, and pain. It took a long time to get to a place where they could leave. As a psychologist he is used to working towards a goal, but here, he could do nothing. The process became a blur.

 

 

After Pulse: Myra Brazell

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Myra Brazell is a social worker. She grew up with in a family that was very service oriented. Her father was in the service and on holiday’s there were always younger airmen who were invited into the home. Her father is a 60 year Mason, and a 50 year Shriner. Those fraternal organizations are very service oriented. Her mother is an Eastern Star affiliated with the masonic family and service oriented. She grew up in the mindset of serving others.

A suicide prevention coordinator position opened in the Orlando Veterans Administration. She started in 2009. She had worked with children earlier in her career and the new position was more intense involving all ages. She now has clients who are children and adults. There is a crisis line so she handles those as well. Originally she had a grant to go into the community with police as a mental health professional to help police decide if someone should be placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold, known as a Baker Act. She would also offer services on the spot to help with a less restrictive environment.

On June 11, 2016, the day before the Pulse Nightclub shooting, she was in Panama City with her grand children. She was driving on I-75 when her phone started blowing up. She works closely with the LGBT program manager. Suicide is a major issue in the LGBT community. She attends the come out with pride walk each year and keeps a table. She attends the trans gender day of remembrance each year. She is also on the directors 50 which is the disaster response team at the VA.

A call that day deployed her to the Beardall Center. She got to the Beardall about 4:30 after her long drive on I-75. Others had been there all day. Inside the center there was controlled chaos. No one group seemed to be in charge. She started walking around and listened. If she heard someone in distress, she would talk to them. She got tissues, got water, cried with people, hugged them. She tried to meet them where they were. No one is going to take the news of this type of disaster well.

About 6:30 they started to do death notifications at homes. She stayed through the night. She rode in the back seat of a police car and drove to homes. She said nothing. Her roll was to watch and provide support.

In one house the man was all alone. He had lost a brother. He kept asking the police man to check with the morgue. He might have seen a white shirt, but was it a white shirt with a pattern? Then he needed to know what the socks looked like. There were four calls to the morgue. The person had already been positively identified with a drivers license in his pocket. They were empathetic, kind and  professional. They understood this man’s need to know. Most of his family was gathered and waiting for more family to fly in from Puerto Rico. They stayed with him for an hour to be sure he was alright.

She went to three notifications that night.

The families banded together. They were there for one another. It was such a privilege to be there.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for December 7 and 8, 2019

Posted on by Thor

Saturday December 7, 2019

8am to  1pm Free. Parramore Farmers Market. John H Jackson Community Center, 3107, 1002 W Carter St, Orlando, FL 32805. Purchase
quality, fresh and healthy food grown in your own neighborhood by local
farmers, including Fleet Farming, Growing Orlando, and other community
growers.

10am to 4pm Free. Sanford Farmers Market. First and Magnolia Sanford Fl.

8pm to 10pm Free. Shuffleboard. Orlando’s Beardall Courts, Beardall Center, 800 Delaney Ave Orlando FL. 1st Saturday of each month. Free fun!

Sunday December 8, 2019

9am to 11am Yoga in the Mennello Museum Sculpture Garden. Yoga in the Mennello Museum Sculpture Garden. Mennello Museum of American Art 900 E Princeton St, Orlando, Florida 32803.  Start your Sunday morning out blissfully with a relaxing lakeside flow.
Practice is suitable for beginner to moderate levels and will be led by
certified instructors from Full Circle Yoga, Winter Park. Don’t forget
to bring your own mat and water to practice.
Your
practice also includes a complimentary pass to enjoy the museum’s
indoor exhibitions at your own leisure during our operating hours. 

Full Circle Yoga Instructor: Sarabeth Jackson

1pm to 4pm Free. Family Day on the Second Sunday. The Mennello Museum of American Art, 900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL 32803. The
make-and-take craft table is open from noon-2:30 p.m., and docents are
available to give mini-tours of the museum. Then it’s open house in the
galleries until 4:30 p.m. 

10am to Noon. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out and laugh, or give it a try yourself. 

Myrlande Bebe

Posted on by Thor

This post is about the shooting that took place at the Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016. It contains difficult content, so please do not read on if you feel you may be effected. 

This article and sketch have been posted with the express written
permission of the interviewee. Analog Artist Digital World takes the
privacy and wishes of individuals very seriously.

Myrlande Bebe is the mother of Jason Josaphat, one of the 49 people murdered at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016. Chelsea, her daughter-in-law sat with her. Jason was born on August 8, 1995 and was 20 years old when he died.  Jason loved to draw. He wanted to do 3D animation and also studied photography in high school. He studied at Valencia Community College for 6 months and then went to Southern Technical School where he made the president’s list and was on his way to becoming a CPA. He planned to travel the world and some day go to Haiti, which is where Myrlande was born.

“I never heard of Pulse until that night.” Myrlande explained. On June 11, 2016 she was working a 12 hour shift. Jason is one of three brothers. They were known as the 3 Js: Jamal, Justin, and Jason. Their sister Miriam had just flown in from Arizona to visit. Her birthday was on June 13th, so they were making plans to celebrate. Myrlande called Miriam before she got home and found out that Jason had gone out. When Jamal arrived home she asked him where Jason was. He didn’t know, so he called Jason and left a message. Exhausted from a long day of work, she went to bed, but she couldn’t sleep.

In the middle of the night her phone started ringing. Miriam picked it up and heard Jason on the other side. She shouted, “Mom, Jason is in trouble! Call 911!” Myrlande took the phone, “Where are you?” she asked Jason. He was panicking. “There are a lot of dead people on the floor, call 911!” She started screaming and Jamal asked, “What is wrong? Mom calm down.” On the phone Jason explained that he was at Pulse. “I’m in the bathroom, I’m trapped and I can’t get out.” The last thing he said was, “He’s coming,” and he got off the line.

Myrlande and Jamal immediately drove to Pulse Nightclub. The call had taken place around 3:25 am and the drive was around 15 minutes. They were outside Pulse from about 3:40 am to 6 am and felt that they had seen everything. They knew Jason was trapped in the bathroom and they both wanted to rush inside to get him. Police had secured the scene making that impossible. “It felt like I was in Iraq, it was terrible.” she said. “My heart was aching.” She saw a young man crying. He said, “I lost him.” She asked him what happened. “Some crazy man just started shooting at us,” he said. Anyone she met that night, she asked, “Did you see my son?” Everyone was crying. There was blood everywhere. “We saw ambulances taking people.” She had never seen dead bodies before. They would pick them up by the two arms and two legs and haul them to a truck. It was a disaster, a nightmare.

At 6 AM police said, “If you don’t see your family member here, go to Orlando Regional Medical Center, you can claim them there.” Myrlande gave one of the nurses Jason’s name and described a tattoo he had on his chest, which he had designed himself. She gave them a picture of her son. They couldn’t find him. They asked for his medical and dental records as well. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She and Jamal had to return home without knowing where Jason was.

That night she had a dream about Jason. She was in a market place with her daughter and niece. She looked up and saw her son. He had his favorite color on, which was green. She saw him far far away. She shouted his name and ran towards him. He passed behind a pole and disappeared. She woke up feeling anxious.

The next day she went to the Beardall Center. She sat patiently waiting to find out if her son was in a coma or if he was at the hospital somewhere. Someone asked to talk to her and they delivered the news. All the records she had given them matched. She found out her daughter’s birthday that her son was dead. Her daughter said, “Mom, I will never again have another birthday.” It was a nightmare for them all. It wasn’t easy to find out that her son had gone out to have a good time, and didn’t make it back home.

Myrlande later learned that Jason fought hard for his life that night. Jason had the courage to talk to the gunman. The last bullet Jason took shielded someone else. Patience Carter had been shot in the leg and Jason helped to keep her calm. Just before the bathroom walls were breached by police, the gunman started to shoot again.  Jason covered Patience with his body and took the bullet. Myrlande was told that he died instantly and didn’t suffer.

Myrlande Bebe

Posted on by admin

Myrlande Bebe is the mother of Jason Josaphat who was one of the 49 people who died at Pulse on June 12, 2016. Chelsea, her sister in law sat with her. Jason was born on August 8, 1995 and was 20 years old when he died.  Jason loved to draw. He wanted to do 3D animation and he studied photography as well in high school. He studied at Valencia Community College for 6 months and then went to Southern Technical School where he made the presidents list and was on his way to becoming a CPA. He planned to travel the world and some day go to Haiti which is where Myrlanda was born.

“I never heard of Pulse until that night.” Myrlande explained. On June 11, 2016 she was working a 12 hour shift. Jason is one of three brothers. They were known as the 3 J’s, Jamal, Justin and Jason. Their sister Mirium had just flown in from Arizona to visit. Her birthday was on June 13th so they were making plans to celebrate. Myrlanda called Mirium before she got home and found out that Jason had gone out. When Jamal got home she asked him where Jason was. He didn’t know, so he called Jason and left a message. Exhausted from a long day of work, She went to bed, but she couldn’t sleep.

In the middle of the night her phone started ringing. Mirium picked it up and heard Jason screaming. She shouted, “Mom Jason is in trouble! Call 911!” Myrlande took the phone, “Where are you?” she asked Jason. He was panicking. “There are a lot of dead people on the floor, call 911!” She started screaming and Jamal asked, “What is wrong? Mom calm down.” On the phone Jason explained that he was at Pulse. “I’m in the bathroom, I’m trapped and I can’t get out.” The last thing he said was, “He’s coming.” and he got off the phone.

Myrlande and Jamal immediately drove over to Pulse. The call had been at around 3:25am and the drive took 15 minutes. They were outside Pulse from about 3:40am to 6am and they saw everything. They knew Jason was trapped in the bathroom and they both wanted to rush inside to get him. Police had secured the scene making that impossible. “It felt like I was in Iraq, it was terrible.” she said. “My heart was aching.” She saw a young man crying. He said, “I lost him.” She asked him what happened. “Some crazy man just started shooting at us.” he said. Anyone she met that night, she asked, “Did you see my son?” Everyone was crying. There was blood everywhere. “We saw ambulances taking people.” She had never seen dead bodies before. They would pick them up with two arms and two legs and haul them to a truck. It was a disaster, a nightmare.

At 6am they said, “If you don’t see your family member here go to Orlando Regional Medical Center, you can claim them there.” Myrlande gave one of the nurses Jason’s name and described a tattoo he had on his chest that he had designed himself. She gave them a picture of her son. They couldn’t find him. They asked for his medical and dental records as well. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She and Jamal had to return home without knowing where Jason was.

That night she had a dream about Jason. She was in a market place with her daughter and niece. She looked up and saw her son. He had his favorite color on which was green. She saw him far far away. She shouted his name and ran towards him. He passed behind a pole and disappeared. She woke up feeling anxious.

The next day she went to the Beardall Center. She sat patiently waiting to find out if her son was in a coma or if he was at the hospital somewhere. Someone asked to talk to her and they delivered the news. All the records she had given them matched. She found out that her son was dead on her daughter’s birthday. Her daughter said, “Mom, I will never again have another birthday.” It was a nightmare for them all. It wasn’t easy to find out that her son had gone out to have a good time, and didn’t make it back home.

Myrlande later learned that Jason fought hard for his life that night. Jason had the courage to talk to the gunman. The last bullet Jason took shielded someone else. Patience Carter had been shot in the leg and Jason helped to keep her calm. Just before the bathroom walls were breached by police, the gunman started to shoot again.  Jason covered the young girl with his body and took the bullet. He died instantly and didn’t suffer. Myrlande later met Patience and she said to her, “You shouldn’t feel guilty, it wasn’t your time.”

This article and sketch have been posted with the express written
permission of the interviewee. Analog Artist Digital World takes the
privacy and wishes of individuals very seriously.