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KOMU's Sarah's Stories - Coverage from VietnamPET TV Special Approved by NBC KOMU-TVSarah Hill, newscaster for KOMU-TV Channel 8 in Columbia, Missouri is known for her award winning “Sarah’s Stories.” Sarah has traveled from mid-Missouri to Sri Lanka in pursuit of stories of extraordinary human interest, so going to Vietnam to film a “distribution” of PETs and wheelchairs was a perfect fit. What could be more exciting than interviewing and filming mobility impaired men, women and children on the ground one minute and, the next, seated upright, mobile, dignified, and filled with hope? Sarah and KOMU-TV videographer, Scott Schaefer, accompanied by PET co-founder, Larry Hills; PET International volunteer executive director, Steve Baima; and retired nurse from Ashland, Missouri, “Vee” Faschiotti, joined up with a 9 member volunteer team from Hope Haven International Ministries (HHIM). Four hundred wheelchairs and 40 PETs were shipped to Vietnam by HHIM, a primary distribution partner for PET. The distribution occurred at Da Nang, a large city on the coast about midway between north and south Vietnam. Volunteers from HHIM led by Val Brummell evaluated the recipients to determine the appropriate wheelchair or PET. Larry and Steve assembled and adjusted PETs to fit recipients. Physical and occupational therapists, and others specially trained were in charge of “seating”. Vee, with the aid of an interpreter, conducted exit interviews. All the while, Sarah and Scott interviewed and filmed. They documented a snapshot of time illustrating the lives of our brothers and sisters, their plight without mobility, and their hopes and dreams for a future with mobility. KOMU-TV Channel 8 (mid-Missouri NBC) aired the PET series of Sarah’s Stories in mid-Missouri in February and March 2007. "Mercy in Motion" earned Sarah and Scott 2 Emmys
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