Three years ago yesterday. Every once in a great while you get a chance to be part of something you can tell is going to be very special from the moment you hear about it. Three years ago last night was one of those times. 12 of my coworkers stepped up to fight in memory of our dear friend and coworker, Bellevue PD Corporal John Nourse. At 38, John died on December 1st, 2016 after a long battle with cancer. His commitment to public service (5 years as a firefighter, 10 years with BPD) is impressive, but we all miss who John was as a person most of all. Detective Andy Smith came up with an idea to have a boxing smoker with proceeds going directly to John’s three children. Our chief thought it was brilliant, and so did we. Andy’s work bringing everyone together and coordinating the various moving parts was why we were able to make it happen.
About two and an half years before John died, we were chatting in the locker room at our station when he mentioned he was looking to get Quincy into martial arts. He mentioned a flyer he saw tacked up on the wall of our Defensive Tactics (DT) room about a gym that had just opened off of Richards Road called Elite BJJ (now @t3maofbellevue). John knew the effectiveness of Jiu-jitsu from the DT training sessions we did at work and after listening to me talk about how awesome my introduction to the art was thanks to @ryrongracie and @renergracie. I told John that I had first met coach @warriorstrengthtrainer at one of Rener’s seminars and that he was a great guy and coach. I also knew Q would be in great hands with professor Andrea, professor Miriam, and prof. Jessica. Fast forward to the super fun match between Quincy and I in celebration of John’s life and the circle is complete. If you look closely you can see John’s Corporal stripes and BPD patches which we sewed onto a special gi for Quincy. I believe we raised 13K+ for his children🥋🚔🤙🏽