By James FitzPatrick
Contributing Writer
Linwood Chatten has spent a career helping others through life’s most difficult and frightening moments.
As a firefighter and an EMT for the Upper Township Rescue Squad for more than 30 years, he has a reputation for being a calming presence in times of crisis.
Longtime colleague Carol Raff said he has a way of putting people at ease in high-stress situations, not only his patients, but his fellow first responders, too.
“When we are on a call, he’s somebody you can turn to for immediate direction and control,” said Raff, who worked with Chatten for about as long as he was with UTRS. “I’ve seen him take control of some very chaotic situations.”
His compassion has a calming influence on patients and their family members, guiding them to a positive outlook, Raff said.
Chatten’s longtime companion, Sue Carlsen, said his reputation as a lifesaver follows him wherever he goes.
“We’ve been together for eight years and there’s nowhere we can go, even out of state, that somebody doesn’t come up and thank this man for saving their mother, their child, their brother, themselves,” Carlsen said. “We’ve been to Lancaster and our bills have been paid for at restaurants because someone sees him across the room and pays for our bill.”
Unfortunately the 52-year-old father and lifelong Upper Township resident had to step away from the job he loves due to a medical emergency of his own. Chatten needs a kidney transplant because he has Stage 4 kidney failure.
With limited finances and medical insurance that is forcing him to pay out of pocket for much of his care, his family, friends and the community are stepping up to help. And you can too.
There will be a benefit for Chatten from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11, at the Seaville Fire and Rescue Social Hall, 36 Route 50 in Seaville. Tickets are $25 and include dinner, music, a chance auction and a 50/50. The event is BYOB.
While he has spent a career helping others, it’s especially important that people reach out to him in his time of need because Chatten is not the type of person who would ask for help.
“Of course, being who he is, Linwood refuses to ask for help from anyone. So we are doing so on his behalf,” reads the Facebook post promoting the event. “If we can give even a small percent back to this man that has so selflessly given of himself to others within this community for so many years, then our efforts will not be in vain.”
“He’s very humbled by it,” Raff said of Chatten. “He’s the last person who’s gonna stick up for himself.”
Carlsen said he’s paid a price for being on the scene of some the township’s most tragic incidents.
“A lot of the major things that have happened in Upper he’s been involved in, so many that I don’t even know where to start,” Carlsen said. “It’s been awful. And the trauma that leaves them with. He carries that too.”
Chatten has a long history of doing work that serves others, including as a dispatcher in Ocean City and a police officer in Sea Isle City. Asked why he chose such path, Carlsen is quick to answer.
“It’s his heart,” she said. “He’s the kindest most genuine person I’ve ever met in my life. He would give the shirt off of his back to anybody.”
For event tickets call Sue Carlsen at 609-742-8102 or Carol Raff at 609-408-0686. A GoFundMe page has also been has been set up on his behalf. See https://www.gofundme.com/f/linwood-needs-a-kidney to learn more.
Copyeditor and Contributing Writer James FitzPatrick has been a community journalist in Atlantic and Cape May counties for more than 30 years, including 20 years as editor of The Current Newspapers. He has worked as a reporter for Hammonton where he raised two beautiful daughters with his wife, Karen.
