Mike Patterson, Georgia Dad paralysed after saving drowning girl, dies (such as support)

Mike Patterson, a Pope from Georgia who was paralyzed after saving a girl drowning, died Friday from medical complications.

A Pope from Georgia who was paralyzed after saving a girl drowning died on Friday.

Out in a lake in Rockmart, GA., with his son on June 8, Mike Patterson noticed a child of 4 years struggling to stay afloat and Dove a. Medullary heroic potato was cut in the process and died on Friday, with his family by his side, after suffering a number of medical complicationsAccording to a statement released by his family.

"His life and the lives of others are forever changed by their courageous decision, split second to save the life of another," Patterson family wrote in a statement.

Javaeh Jones, the girl who helped save, came the incident unharmed and his mother expressed his gratitude for the generosity of Patterson.

"He is a God send basically," said Javaeh MOM to myfoxatlanta.com. "He was there. He is supposed to they have been there".

Patterson didn't have insurance at the time of the accident because he had recently begun a new construction job, which incited his followers to establish a trust to raise money for mounting medical expenses. Funds and wishes well missed when Patterson fought dozens of ailments, including respiratory problems, pneumonia, a bacterial infection and a blood clot.

When Patterson died on Friday, his Fund had already collected more than $90,000 and its Facebook page had accumulated more than 65,000 followers.

"I have never been so touched and saddened to hear of the loss of a person I've ever known," wrote one Facebook commentator. "What a tremendous human being was."

The family continues to collect donations to pay for medical expenses and to help the family. Discover how you can get involved here.

Also in HuffPost:

Bomb Threats Near Georgia State Capitol Prompt Evacuations At Judicial Building (UPDATE)

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Several state government buildings near the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta were evacuated after a pair of bomb threats this morning.

The Judicial Building, home to the state attorney general and Supreme Court, was cleared as authorities urged those in the area to avoid using cell phones or radios, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Shortly before 11 a.m., employees were allowed to return to the buildings and the scene was cleared, 11Alive reports. Bomb-sniffing dogs searched the area and didn't find any explosives.

The threats also emptied the Coverdell Legislative Office Building at Capitol Square, which houses offices for most of the state's lawmakers and several news outlets, including the Journal-Constitution.

The bomb scares happened on a day with several peculiar security incidents in the region: An explosion at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at about 9 a.m. and a "serious" bomb threat at the Richmond, Va. International Airport, which was later cleared and reopened. And in New Jersey, a bomb threat was reported at the Princeton University campus, prompting the evacuation of several buildings, according to Business Insider.

The explosion occurred in a maintenance shed at the airpot. There were no reported injuries.

Also on HuffPost:

Get Alerts

Ben Tucker Dead: Georgia Jazz Musician Dies In Car Crash At 82

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Musician Ben Tucker performed with stars from Quincy Jones to Peggy Lee before he settled in the 1970s in Savannah, where the jazz bassist became one of the Georgia city's best-known working musicians.

He was killed in a car crash Tuesday at age 82.

Tucker was driving a golf cart across a road on Hutchinson Island when a car slammed into him at high speed, said Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Julian Miller. Tucker was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver of the car that struck him was charged with vehicular homicide and other criminal counts.

The news stunned musicians and jazz enthusiasts in Savannah, where Tucker had been a musical fixture for roughly four decades. Tucker made his living playing upright bass – an instrument he'd named Bertha and claimed was 240 years old – in all sorts of settings from jazz festivals to wedding receptions, from nightclub gigs to bar mitzvahs.

"One of the most interesting things about playing with Ben was he was so beloved by so many people in Savannah who had met him at his club or whose weddings he had played," said Howard Paul, a jazz guitarist and president/CEO of Benedetto Guitars who played and recorded with Tucker for more than 20 years. "You could count on being interrupted at least three times in a song because Savannahians would walk up and shake his hand while we were playing."

Before he moved to the Georgia coast, Tucker had some success as a songwriter – perhaps most notably with "Comin' Home Baby," a song co-written with jazz vocalist Bob Dorough, which was recorded by Mel Torme, Herbie Mann and more recently Michael Buble. By the end of the 1960s, he had toured with Lee and performed and recorded with jazz greats such as Dexter Gordon, Buddy Rich and Jones.

Paul was a young Army lieutenant scheduled to deploy to Operation Desert Storm when he arrived in Savannah 22 years ago. A friend sent him to a nightclub Tucker operated at the time, and the bassist invited him on stage to play that night and all week.

"He was on the music scene for so many years and performed with many of the greatest names in jazz, yet he spent so much time with local musicians and children as well," Paul said. "I think he grew up in an era of jazz musicians where they felt obligated to give back."

The Savannah Morning News reported Tucker was also a former owner of radio stations WSOK-AM and WLVH-FM.

Police said the crash that killed Tucker, who was also an avid golfer, remained under investigation. The driver of the car that hit Tucker's golf cart, identified as 52-year-old Robert William Martin of Spicewood, Texas, was being held without bond in the Chatham County jail on charges of vehicular homicide, racing and reckless driving. It was not immediately known Tuesday if Martin had an attorney.

Julius "Boo" Hornstein, a Savannah psychotherapist and jazz writer, befriended Tucker and worked with him for years in the Coastal Jazz Association, which organizes the Savannah Jazz Festival.

Hornstein said Tucker took excellent care of himself for a man in his 80s and kept a steady gig playing Sunday brunch at a Savannah hotel, where he had been scheduled to perform the night of his death.

"He was a working musician right to the end," Hornstein said. "He was so instrumental in the music life of Savannah."

Also on HuffPost:

Get Alerts