9 year old McKenna Andrews of Petal, MS to speak on Internet Radio - The Vickie Travis Hour/HealthCa

Added: (Sun Mar 05 2006)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Health Care Warrior of the week on The Vickie Travis Hour/Health Care Warriors an Internet Radio Program is 9 year old McKenna Andrews of Petal,
Mississippi, young author of "Riding the Storm Out", available through
lulu.com - $22.99.
http://www.lulu.com/content/219574

McKenna rode out the hurricane Katrina last year along side her parents, her
younger brother Gage and two Dalmations at their home. Her family would prefer
to not do it again.

Katrina was the sixth strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. It
was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. It was responsible for the
recorded deaths of 1,420 people. It was labeled a category 5 though some
seasoned hurricane survivors think it was a 4 1/2 when it reached Louisiana
and destroyed a great portion of New Orleans.

In Petal, Mississippi things were just about as bad. The people in that town
had 17 days of no power, no TV, no phones, no air conditioning in the hot,
humid climate - just about 'no' everything. Trees splintered into toothpicks.
Roofs were caved in, people were stranded for days.

McKenna learned of a pod of domesticated Atlantic bottlenose dolphins that had
lost their home during the storm and were swept out to sea. The now destroyed
48 year old Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi which the dolphins
had called home was just down the road from Petal, where McKenna lives.

The dolphins had little to no experience in fending for themselves in the
wild, just as most of us would be unprepared if we were in the same position.
They didn't know how to obtain food, avoid predators and probably were
experiencing some major culture shock while in the wild.

Since the storm, the tale of the dolphins has been told the world over. Some
weathered the storm in a hotel swimming pool, while others were swept into the
Mississippi Sound, rescued later by their trainers and dozens of volunteers
from the Navy, Coast Guard, NOAA and others. Jill, Kelly, Jacki, Michelle,
Tamra, Toni, Noah, Elijah, Tessi, Cherie, Brewer, Katelyn, Johnah, Wee Tee,
Echo, Sasha and Naia were rescued and temporarily placed at facilities
throughout the East and Gulf Coast. Today they are living quite well at
Atlantis, a tropical hotel and resort in the Bahamas.

McKenna has written about Noah, a six year old dolphin that was part of this
pod and what he might have xperienced while on his own in the wild. She has written through the eyes of a compassionate child, similar in style to that of a sensitive adult. The exquisite photographs included in this book do not
take away from the content but rather enrich what is destined to become a
classic for all ages. This book does have the pulling heart strings quality
found within Shel Silverstein's "The Learning Tree."

McKenna has shown how people across all cultures and all age groups have
worked together to keep Noah and his family together. Humans have many
negative qualities but the compassion of the people in the Gulf Coast pulling
together should be remembered and praised. There is no need for any of us to be concerned yet that we will wake up one morning and find a note in our
fishbowl saying "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish." We haven't messed up the world that badly yet. There is great hope for the future in knowing that there are many young people as compassionate and caring as McKenna.

The Vickie Travis Hour is a caller participation show that covers a wide
variety of related topics and which features guests talking about today's
health care/social concerns.

You can call in to Health Care Warriors , Tuesdays - 6 PM PT- 8 PM CT - 9 PM
ET at: USA and Canada Toll Free Line -
1-888-762-8153 EXT. 897 - International Callers at: 1-321-253-9667

(SHOW TOPICS SUBJECT TO CHANGE THIS WEEK DEPENDING UPON BREAKING HEALTH NEWS
AND THE WHIMS OF THE HOST)