Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Power of Positive Feedback

by Jack McCombs, 2014 Virginia Senior Games Athlete, 5K and 20K Cycling

Below is correspondence received at the Virginia Recreation and Park Society Central Office on Tuesday, May 20, 2014.  The author, Mr. Jack McCombs from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, has given consent for its publication and hopes that "Mr. Myers will receive the attention he deserves."  Well done, Kevin!

"A Prince at Virginia Senior Games"

During the 20k cycle race I had the misfortune of crashing due to my own fault.  I managed to remount my bike and ride to the finish, but was feeling considerable pain particularly in my left shoulder.  Kevin Myers, who I believe is an employee of the City of Newport News, immediately came over and helped me dismount from my bike; led me to a chair, and after asking a series of questions, applied an ice pack to my shoulder; and several times during the next hour or so made sure I was comfortable and reapplied the ice pack.  Later I discovered my cell phone, a new iPhone, was missing and must have come out of my jersey during the crash. Mr. Myers using a golf cart drove me back to the scene of my crash and we started to search for the phone but were having no success finding it until Mr. Myers dialed my cell number and was able to locate the phone by the ring, which was completely hidden in high grass.

Later that day I went to a hospital emergency room and was x-rayed and found to have suffered a separated shoulder.

On Monday Mr. Myers phoned me find out how I was feeling and wished me a speedy recovery.

I am very grateful for the help that Mr. Myers provided me and consider him a Prince for being so attentive and helpful.  I'm retired from the US Air Force.  Whenever military personnel are awarded for exceptional performance the citation always includes words such as "his/her performance reflects great credit upon themselves and upon (for example) the US Air Force".  Mr. Myers' performance (assuming he works for the city) reflects greatly on the city and citizens of Newport News.

I have included a photo of Mr. Myers helping me.  Please ensure his management is aware of this token of my appreciation.

Jack McCombs
Kill Devil Hills, The Outer Banks, NC


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