Shawn Receives Commendation in 2000 from Pedernales Emergency
Services for Dedication and Bravery in saving a woman's lfe
...Why Austin? Shawn came..to play his annual gig at the Cactus Caf� a
couple of years ago with no thought of hanging around. He jammed with Austin
guitarist Vam Wilks, and afterward, while they were loading to go, Vam
noticed that Shawn was ashen, his lips blue. "You don't look so good." Next
thing, Shawn was at Seton Hospital in Austin undergoing quadruple bypass
surgery.
On the mend but unable to travel, Shawn found a place to
live and settled in with his wife, Anastasia, and a herd of cats. He'd been
a fireman in the Navy, so when he saw that the Spicewood Volunteer Fire
Department needed help, he jumped (slowly, still healing) at the chance. He
did light work at first, and today, fully healed, he drives the fire
truck....."
"..Shawn was joined by his them girfriend Juliet
Opperman, who is also an Austin firefighter and an emergency care assistant,
in addition to being a writer with a master's degree in journalism.
"I'm an adrenaline junkie," says Phillips with a laugh. "I'm not going to
stop doing this for anything. It's just too exciting. Jules and I are on
duty 24/7. We go when the tone goes off. I've gotten to the point where if I
was under 35 years old, I could get a job with any fire department in the
world. To date, I've gotten almost 680 hours of training." City Beat,
2010
