Last year, he was a motivational brother & coach. He supports me by tips, orientation, advices... Lets say, he is helped me to progress in my training career. We met in November 2009, during the 2009 JCI World Congress organized by JCI Tunisia in Hammamet, where we exchanged experiences ,tips & advices and we had a little bit of mentoring through the Morning show that he animated & Networking training session.
We had a great World Congress and I was sure that I will meet him again in US or in other countries because I became really Fan. Patrick went back to US by the end of the world congress and after few days he lived a tragedy that affected all american people especially US Jaycees and even JCI members worldwide.
Patrick was @ home with his wife Lisa and some relatives celebrating "Thanksgiving". When Paul Mehrige who is Lisa's brother killed his family members even Patrick was shot. After 3 months of coma, he survived the tragical shootings. It was really a miracle due to all JCI members prayers & the will of God. Thank you God for this miracle.
This was the tragedy, Patrick lost his wife, and some of his relatives in a Thanksgiving massacre. But Pat is back, and what a come back !!!! Really, I respected this man because he is an amazing guy and very impressive trainer! But now I'm more respectful because I discovered a brave person with a strong and inspirational personality. He's fighting to survive and to continue his life despite the loss.
When the tragedy was announced, a supporting facebook group titled "All JCI members support & love Patrick Knigh!" was created and it counts about 3300 JCI Members from all over the world. Every member prayed and keep faith that Patrick will be back soon.
This great person is back to life now and became stronger. I want to share his first message to all this group members:
First Patrick Message after the tragedy:
Hello everyone. You know how I hate mass emails that are not personal, but this has been so overwhelming that I just wanted to get a quick message out to everyone.
Thank you so much for the out-pouring of love and condolences since the incident. My family and friends have certainly helped me through these difficult months.
Since I woke up from the coma after 3 months, my body has been healing at a remarkable pace. I had to relearn how to sit up, walk, talk, shave and do all the other activities of daily living. The doctor told me that I only had a 1 in 1000 chance of surviving and that if I did survive, I would have severe brain damage.
But I did survive and I am as mentally sharp as ever (I'm still good-looking,too). I've been home from the hosptal for about 10 days and still trying to read through the 3,000+ emails that were sent to me since November. The other good news is that I walked 3 miles without assistance the other day and today, I am going to attempt driving, which is really the last activity I need to be independent.
Waking up every morning without Lisa is still very hard. Those of you who knew her must remember how sweet she was and what a perfect mate she was for me. But life goes on and I'm trying to stay focused on getting better.
Hopefully, I will be back to work in 2-3 weeks, although I probably won't have any trials right away. I WILL be in Osaka Japan for the World Congress and I WILL host the JCI Morning Show. You can count on that!
If you write to me or call me and don't get a quick response, please be a little patient because I have been flooded with messages. I appreciate all of you and I hope to see you soon .
Patrick
When I saw this message sent by Pat. I was really impressed by his personality strengh because the situation is not really easy but he 's a brave man!
Patrick is back to life now! Back to work & for sure back to the stage !!! Thanks Pat for all you did for me. Keep faith & good luck for the Future!
See you on stage soon !!! Keep on the best training sessions!
Fares