Sheila McDaniel followed her passion for others 25 years ago and became a member of the Latta Rescue Squad.
She was following a lifelong passion to help others, and to bring that help to a rural town.
“She’s been doing this rescue work all her life. I mean, she did it even as a child, helping other people as a little girl, the way she’s teaching her little girls now to help people,” McDaniel’s friend, Alene Cox, said.
“A long time ago my oldest sister persuaded me to take the basic E.M.T. class and when I got into it and got involved I realized that it was something good and something I could bring home,” McDaniel said.
For a woman who could’ve worked elsewhere, there was an overwhelming desire to help those a little closer to home.
“I realized that our county and small town needed something, that we needed to have the E.M.S. here and it’s a little different in the hometown because it’s more personal. These are our neighbors that we’re working on, so it means a little something extra special for us,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel has gone on countless ambulance calls, assisted fire personnel on scene and responded to accidents.
She’s also managed to raise a family and make a huge impact on the community.
“It takes a lot of juggling and a lot of family involvement and I have a wonderful family who has been behind me every step of the way,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel and most of the other rescue squad members don’t get any money in return for their services.
What they do get though, is an opportunity to make a difference on a daily basis.
“Our neighbor might call, or our friend might call you know, momma’s blood pressure’s up, I don’t want the ambulance but can ya’ll come check her? We get an awful lot of calls like that. People learn to depend on you in the community and she’s one of those people that a lot of people depend on,” Cox said.
For many in the community, McDaniel is the essence of a hero. McDaniel says that she’s just doing what she loves and training others to do the same.
“I’m just doing a job. I’m training the other heroes that are coming up now and I hope that eventually somebody will take my place in the training situation and also train other heroes,” McDaniel said.
Until then, she says she’ll do her best to pass along the values of volunteerism, not only to her children but to the community’s younger generation as well.
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