When a TV crew becomes part of the story

By: Valerie Boey

Clearwater Beach, Florida - In the last couple of weeks I’ve covered six different stories about people dying tragically. Some of them were young, some of them older and with children. They’re all devastating stories that are emotional to watch.

But as a rule, you try not to become too attached, so you can focus on telling a story. It’s not that I don’t feel for those people, because I do. But you see, if we were all crying and weeping with the victims' families, we’d never get the information to deliver to viewers at home. We have to concentrate on finding out who did what and who ran for help.

But my big rule went down the drain Sunday night. Tampa Bay's 10 News photojournalist Kevin Carlson and I were sent out to cover the search for a 10-year-old girl on Clearwater Beach. We were told the mom was there hysterically crying. While in the live truck I got ready to focus. “How sad,” I thought. “Hopefully they’ll find the girl.”

When we arrived to the beach, Kevin went to take pictures of the search crews and I went over to the officers on scene. They were working on getting the person in charge to come out and talk to us.

“OK,” I said. "I’ll be right back." I started walking over to Kevin, when I heard screams for help.

“Get an officer! Help! Help!” People on the beach were yelling. I turned around and ran to the rescuers yelling, “Help! Help officers! Get down there. They found her!”

They quickly ran out to the water. We all ran. Beachgoers formed a circle around the officers as they pulled the girl out and gave her CPR.

“Come on Kayira you can do it Kayira,” said one of the officers. I stood there watching as they tried to revive the child. It was surreal. I thought, “This is amazing they’re going to save her.”

At first I did what I was trained to do. Take pictures and send them back to the station. Of course, Kevin was video taping too. But then something happened. They continued to perform CPR. I was sure she’d come back. But as time went on, I worried. In fact at one point I even said a prayer for the child, “Please let her live.” The officers swept the child in their arms and ran to get an ambulance.

Kevin and I were in shock. We weren’t sure if the girl made it, but we decided we would think positive and believe that she did. We still had a job to do. Get interviews. Find out who saw what and what happened. Only, as I was interviewing a crying mother who saw the whole thing, something strange was happening.

I was crying too.

“Ok, get a grip,” I thought to myself. “This isn’t the time to get emotional. You have to focus and make deadline. Time’s running out.”

A few minutes before my live shot we got the bad news. The little girl died. My heart sank. Every time I started to think about what I was going to say, I started to weep. I was able to do my live shot staying composed, but it wasn’t easy. In fact it was one of the toughest live shots I’ve had to do. I felt so sad.

But at the end of the night we accomplished what we set out to do. Made deadline and provided information for the Web. I found out who saw what and who called for help. Only, I didn’t feel the usual relief I do at the end of the night. I felt drained and emotionally spent. For this time it was me who ran for help and saw what happened.

Yes, another tragic story, but this one will forever be etched in my mind.