Thankfully, sometimes life imitates life
There is an old saying that at times “life imitates art.”
Sometimes it also imitates life.
Back on Nov. 8, 2014, Joseph Chambers was visiting his halfsister in Kensington when they heard a loud boom outside. His sister thought it might have been a gunshot.
But the then-senior at Ridley High School who was already active as a junior volunteer firefighter with the Leedom Fire Co. knew better. Chambers instinctively knew the crunching sound of a car crash and just as instinctively was immediately out the door to see what he could do to help.
It was worse than he could have imagined. What Chambers encountered was the horrific vision of a Philadelphia police cruiser engulfed in flames – with the injured officer still trapped inside.
Chambers never blinked. Along with another passerby, he pulled the seriously injured Officer Mark Kimsey from his burning vehicle.
Kimsey needed a guardian angel. He got one in the form of a young hero who wanted one day to be sitting where Kimsey was – though probably not behind the wheel of a burning automobile.
Chambers was already harboring dreams of one day following in Kimsey’s footsteps. The young volunteer wanted to serve his community as a police officer.
A photo of Chambers visiting Kimsey in his hospital room made headlines – including several in this newspaper.
Chambers’ heroic also actions earned him several rounds of kudos, and even a guest stint along with Kimsey on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” in Los Angeles.
Seeing the flames devouring that police cruiser did not diminish Chambers’ zeal to one day also be an officer. They only poured gas on the fire, in a matter of speaking.
“I always wanted to be a cop since I saw my first police car,” Chambers said. In Ridley Township, kids become accustomed to the township’s distinctive red cruisers at an early age, including the Leedom Estates neighborhood where Chambers grew up.
“I always thought they were just so cool,” Chambers said. “They were people I really looked up to.”
Chambers likely would have responded the same way that fateful night even if it was not a police officer who needed assistance. It’s the way he was brought up.
“My parents taught me that if someone needs help, you help,” Chambers said.
It was that drive to help that spurred him to join as his local fire department. At the time Chambers was just 14 years old.
Fast forward a few years. That kid with dreams of community service, of helping people, of not thinking twice about putting himself in harm’s way when someone needs help, still harbors the same thoughts.
Only these days he does it behind a badge.
Chambers never lost his desire to become a lawman. Today that dream is reality – life imitating life. Chambers is working as a part-time officer in both Folcroft and Ridley Park. Chambers started at the police academy the winter after he graduated from high school. He graduated June 20, 2016.
And who else would be holding the Bible when Chambers was first sworn in as a lawman? Of course none other than Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Kimsey. They share a special bond, not only because of Chambers’ heroic actions to save his life, but of a desire to serve their communities.
“I was super proud of Joe and of the accomplishments he made in such a short time,” Kimsey said. “I was happy that I was able to be there number one, and to be a part of it.
“He’s like a little brother to me,” Kimsey said of Chambers. “Joe is part of our family.”
Family has played a big role in Chambers’ lifelong pursuit of community service and police work.
Chambers’ mother is not surprised.
She accompanied her son when he made his first visit to Kimsey in the hospital.
“Oh, my gosh, when we got there and those 10 officers parted ways as Joe walked through to go into Mark’s hospital room my knees got weak,” said Judi Chambers-Coyne.
When her son was sworn in as a part-time officer in Ridley park, she was there to hold the Bible.
“I stood there looking at him and I was thinking how proud his father would be,” Chambers-Coyne said. “His dad would be over the moon and back up there. We both are.” They’re not the only ones. Young people today get a bad rap, especially when it comes to community service, getting involved and doing the right thing.
Not every kid is aloof, selfcentered and consumed with their phone.
Need proof? Well, sometimes life doesn’t imitate art; it imitates life.
Just ask Mark Kimsey and Joseph Chambers.