(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights AAA paramedic Chris McNeese.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Biloxi Jan. 16, 1973.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to East Marion High School and studied criminal justice at Pearl River Community College.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I’m a paramedic with AAA. We have to make sure the truck is stocked with all of the equipment we need and everything is working right. We respond to calls with lots of chest pains, possible heart attacks, short of breath, whether it’s emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, car accidents and things like that.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: I was a volunteer at Tri-Community Fire Department and decided to progress on up to EMT, and it took off from there. I went through the paramedic program at Forrest General Hospital, which is now a college course.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: I like having the ability to help people.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: Sometimes you have to deal with families when they’re going through a tough crisis, and that can be difficult to deal with. Whether it’s a loss of a loved one or an infant is sick, it can be difficult and stressful to deal with the family and the patient at the same time.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: To live to every day with the thought that tomorrow may not come. It can be our time any day or time, so you have to live every day to the fullest.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: At one time, it was between a truck driver and a paramedic. Somehow I got lured into the fire department and working with the ambulance services kind of leaned me that way.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I was picking up trash on the side of the road for the county. It was OK; it was after school two hours an evening.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: My parents, W.H. and Ada, influenced me a lot. My dad was always in the medical field and worked at Biloxi Veterans Administration and worked at Marion General for a while. That’s where I kind of picked it up.
Q: What is your spouse’s name?
A: Tracey. She works at The Columbian-Progress.
Q: Do you have children?
A: We have an 11-year-old son, Trace.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: Definitely boiled crawfish.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I would say Bora Bora because it looks like the tropical beach setting with not a lot of people, clear water and everything is easy and laid back.
Q: If you were rich, what would be the first thing you would buy?
A: Probably a ranch with horses. I think Trace would like having some cows and horses.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I like to go bicycle riding and do Scouting with Trace. We go fishing a fair amount, and we’ve been going hunting some this year now that Trace is getting of age to handle a gun safely.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: I like that it’s slower paced, and everybody knows everybody. Everyone is considerably friendly.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: I’d want to sit down and have lunch with my family. They are the best thing I’ve got for myself.
Q: If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do all day?
A: I’d want to travel and see America. I want to go back to the Rocky Mountains again. We went on a Boy Scout trip, and everything was kind of fast paced. I’d like to go there again and take my time to see a little more stuff. I’d like to see the Grand Canyon, too. It would be interesting just to see what nature has achieved there. It’s so massive and not typical of this area.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: Becoming a father because it changed who I was and how I behaved. I try to be a better person for the sake of him.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: I want to go skydiving. I’ve always been scared of heights, but I’ve kind of overcome that to an extent. I’d like to see a different view of the world.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Honesty, kindness and loyalty.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I want to be remembered as a nice person, someone who tried to do their best, someone who tried to help other people and be a functioning member of society.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: Chris McNeese said he either wanted to be a paramedic or a truck driver when he was a kid and chose the medical path after working with the Tri-Community Fire Department. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
