I've been in television a long time. And I've met a lot of amazing people. But there are certain ones, that touch your life in a way you'll never forget. One of those people for me is Russ Buss. I met him at the MDA jail and bail fundraiser in Chico a few months back. We were in the "cellar" of Johnnie's. I saw him at the end of the room and was immediately intrigued. Here was this small man, with a bigger than life attitude and voice. I watched him as he placed call after call making his pitch about why people should donate. I sat down at a nearby table and started to make my own calls. But, in just a matter of minutes I had flipped my cell phone shut and said to him, "I don't know who you are, but with that pitch and that voice, I'd sponsor you." He laughed his "Russ Buss" laugh. We immediately started to talk and our conversation went on for an hour. It seemed like minutes. I was mesmorized by the stories he told me about how he came to be a christian radio d-j in Chico and about how he met his wife. Then he started to tell me the story about how he helped save the life of a local teenager and it shook me to the core. Let me tell you why. I started working here August 2006.  I was sitting up on the assignment desk one night and heard all kinds of commotion on our scanners. It was a horrific accident. You could hear the tragedy unfold and just listening to the voices of the firefighters and paramedics on scene gave me the chills. I sent my reporter Nicole Shanafelt out to cover the accident. When we got back, she was as white as a ghost. She said she'd never seen anything so horrible. I watched the video and it took both of us a while to calm down.  Nicole went back to write the story, complete with a bite from the "hero"...the man who saved Tim by pulling him from the burning wreckage.  The next day, I got a call from Tim's family. They wanted us to use the last name "Hooper." It was the name he now went by..not the name on his drivers license. I talked with his family members who were very gracious and told me he had been flown to San Jose to be treated. The day after that, I spoke with a woman who didn't want me to give her name, but said, "There was another man there that night. He put out the flames. His name is Russ Buss."  Russ Buss, I thought???  There's a name you never forget.  So, I started searching for Russ Buss.  I couldn't find him. And it bothered me. As the days went by, new stories shifted my focus and I forgot all about Russ Buss.  A few months later, he was honored by Rick Keene along with Mark Kinsey. My reporter Ashley Coleman did the story. I was in the edit bay when she was cutting it and I saw Mark's face, but I got called away on breaking news and never, for whatever reason, got to see Russ' face on camera.  So, here I was a few months ago, sitting at this table listening to this man tell this story about Tim Hooper. And in a flash, I started to clap my hands, and I shouted, "Oh my gosh!!!! You're Russ Buss."  After all this time!  We sat and talked for a while longer. He finished the incredible story of what happened to him and Tim the night of the accident. I was in tears.  The MDA people kept looking at us like...are you guys going to get on the phone and make some calls or what??? He had to go do his show and didn't have a card. He gave me a pen with KKXX on it. It had the phone number of the station. I was curious to hear his show(he does two a day one from 8am-9am the other from 2-3pm) I listened. And I loved it. He is hysterical. Even better, he puts a funny spin on a very serious topic and makes you want to listen to his every word.  Weeks went by and one day I was having a HORRIBLE day. One of those days where things just feel like they're spiraling out of control. I sat down in my chair and saw a red pen on my floor. I picked it up. It was the pen Russ gave me. I called him. At that very moment, my angst, anger, frustration, stress, whatever it was, just melted away.  I joked to my staff that I just had a "Russ Buss" moment.  I spoke to several people in my newsroom about how I met him and they all agreed it was an amazing story. But more than that, Russ himself, is an amazing story. So we took a gamble and told his story to our viewers. We can't really do it justice in four minutes....which is why we decided, for those of us who've met him, to write about him in our blogs tonight.  

You didn't get to hear the part about three days before the accident. Russ came upon a motorcycle crash on his way home from work. The two victims were lying mangled on the hot pavement...but still alive. Russ said all he could do was get a blanket and shield their bodies from the sun. When the emergency crews got there he asked them what he could have done better. He was told he should have gotten the medical histories of the couple and blocked off the road. At home that night Russ says he felt helpless so he prayed. He said God told him he gave up his hope. That's why he felt hopeless. He didn't let God work through him to help those two people. Russ promised he wouldn't give up his hope again. Three days later...BOOM....the accident that involved Tim Hooper. I feel in my heart, that Tim is alive, because this time, Russ didn't give up his hope. He pulled a tiny fire extinguisher from the back of his truck. It was one he just put there the day before. And when he did, he thought about the years of training he had received as an electrician. A man would fill up a bucket full of water and gasoline and set it on fire. Russ always grabbed the little fire extinguisher he had for training. They'd laugh and ask him why he wouldn't pick up the big ones and he would always say, "Because this is the one I have at home and this is the one I have in my vehicles and I want to be able to use it when I need to." He remembers the demonstrations and learning about how the man would put out the flames only to be able to relight it a few minutes later in that same bucket.  The night of the fire, Russ said he remembered all that. Shoot the gasoline with short bursts...then count until the flame relights. That's how long he had...that's how long Mark Kinsey had, just a few short seconds when the flame went out underneath the van to break the window and pull Tim out. Then there is the part about the tube going in and the firefighter everyone remembers, but nobody knew. Was it an angel? Russ believes it was. And so too, do those who were there that night. I know we've probably all had things happen in our lives that no one can explain. I know I can't explain meeting Russ in that room years later..and the feeling of relief I got to finally meet the person I'd been searching for. I remember Russ said to me..."and this story goes on so many years later. You're the new chapter."

So whether you're a skeptic, or a churchgoer, the fact remains the same, that successive events happened that night that leave you wondering. If you don't believe in angels, miracles, a higher power, or whatever you might call it....listen to his show.(KKXX 930 AM) He gets paid about minimum wage, but never complains about his life. He's there telling the incredible stories day in and day out of people who may be your neighbors and have fallen upon hard times, only to pick themselves up again. And he's not one of those people wanting to shove things down your throat. He is....in one word...inspiring.   I hope you all are able to experience a "Russ Buss" moment in your life. It's a wonderful feeling!