CHARIOT OF FIRE

By Peter Vuono

   This short tale is dedicated to the memory of a forgotten American hero and to heroes of every kind everywhere.


   The NFL playoffs are upon us and we all look forward with great anticipation to cheering for our favorite team. However, as I contemplated the past year I thought about the great many players who gained notoriety with little penalty for acts of violence toward children, women and even animals. I also thought how unfair it was that true heroes sometimes don't get remembered. This is a short tale of a man who was definitely a hero and I write about him to preserve his memory and to honor our intrepid firefighters.
   Back in the 80's the debut of wrestler Scott"Bam Bam" Bigelow was greatly anticipated  by the fans. The Asbury Park New Jersey native was 6'4"" and weighed 390 lbs! He entered wrestling school with a legitimate Black Belt and was trained at the Monster Factory  by legendary wrestler Larry"Pretty Boy" Sharpe. Bigelow could do things as a 400 pounder that people thought that only light "high flyers" could do. One move was called a "sling shot". He would stand on the apron of the ring, grab the top rope and propel his 390lbs over the top rope in a swan dive  on top of his helpless prone opponent. He would attain a magnificent career in the WWE, WCW and, of course the ECW. Bam Bam once said that his best move came in July of 2000 when he was driving home from an ECW tour from Japan in a suburb of Philadelphia.
   At 3:30 in the morning he observed a home with the upstairs in flames. He exited the car and entered the home to hear three children, ages 3, 5 and 9 screaming upstairs for their lives.  The front stairway was impassable and engulfed in flames. In order to get to the back stairway Bigelow literally smashed through a built wall of 2 by 4's, plaster and sheet rock to the back stairway.
  After climbing the stairway he grabbed  the three children. They were left alone that evening by an inebriated single mother and managed to start a fire. As Bam Bam got down the stairway. he was on fire and engulfed in flames. Once out of the building and the children made safe, the fire dept. serviced Bam Bam.
  He received 2nd degree burns over 40 percent of his body. He would spend the next ten days in the hospital. Little publicity or credit was given but what slowly came about later would be far worse and tragic.
   Bigelow would take anti-anxiety medications coupled with pain killers for his back. As dosages increased, he would lose his career, his marriage and finally his life  On January 19, 2007. the cause of death was  heart disease and other after-effects of being in the ring so long.. A hero's life ended abruptly and quietly at age 45.
   He died without recognition but as a receipt he preserved three young lives; an act which will remain a shining star which will forever glow through the darkness.


" And suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire came down from heaven and separated the two"
2Kings 2:10-12