I was born on July 25th, 1968, in Bridgeport, CT, as Kenneth Lee Patterson. After attending school, and graduating in 1987 from NaugatuckHigh School, I went into the US Army. After leaving the Army, I bounced around doing various jobs, not finding one that was my “true calling”. After marrying Beth, we moved to Florida, looking to start anew. It was here that Kenny Jr was born, May 11th, 1994. I was already a Florida State Certified firefighter at this time, and was attending Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training. I thought I had finally found my calling, and loved every minute of my career as a FF/EMT. I took all the classes I could to become the best firefighter that I could be. It was during my time in the “trenches” that I got divorced; we had just grown apart. But still, something wasn’t clicking for me. I didn’t like seeing people after they were injured…but that was my job. I had a chance to start teaching CPR classes for the local Safety Council, although I was scared to death to stand up in front of a group of people (who of us aren’t) I welcomed the challenge. I had finally found my true calling. Well, almost. Because of my drive for learning new things, the safety council people kept giving me more classes to learn, therefore more classes to teach. I had found my true calling, preventing injuries to the people in the workforce. I had finally found my calling in life. I was going to be a safety “dude”. Most people dislike the type, but I was going to be different. I knew I could make a difference. I was working at KSC, a dream job for me (after all, Armstrong walked on the moon 1 year and 4 days after my birthday). I wasn’t a Trekkie or anything like that; I was just enthralled in the Space Program. I still remember where I was in 1986 when Challenger blew up. I had my dream job…and I was going to spend the rest of my life there…until this happened.
I first started having problems with my wrist in late 2005. My experience as a safety person chalked it up to carpal tunnel, and I did more wrist exercises. In March of 2006, I finally went to a doctor about it, when I started having problems starting my car and kept dropping things. I was diagnosed as having ALS in November of 2006. I have recently stopped working so I can put as much passion and energy in the fight for my life as I have in all aspects of my life.
Me with Discovery in the background,
the first Shuttle Launch since the Columbia Tragedy,
