Officer who saved lives during Harvey dies after battle with cancer
HOUSTON (FOX 26) - A Houston police officer credited with saving dozens of lives during Harvey has died, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said.
Senior Police Officer Norberto Ramon, who served with the department for nearly 25 years, died on Friday. He was battling colon cancer.
"Today our @houstonpolice family lost a great colleague, husband, father, friend, cop, hero, with the passing of Senior Police Officer Norberto Ramon. He served honorably for nearly 25 years. Despite being seriously ill, he showed courage & grit as he saved dozens of lives during Hurricane Harvey. Norberto refused to give in and worked almost until the very end. He did more living and served with more honor and distinction these past few months, then many do in a lifetime. We will cherish his memory and honor his service in the days and years to come. RIP," Chief Acevedo wrote in a series of tweets remembering Officer Ramon.
Officer Ramon was battling Stage 4 cancer, but that didn't stop him from helping during Harvey.
"I could’ve stayed in the office and taken phone calls," Officer Ramon told FOX 26 in an interview last December. "I wanted to go out and work like everybody else and help the community.”
And help he did. Even though he couldn’t get to his precinct, he joined up with another one and started conducting rescue after rescue for days. He's lost track of the number of people he saved.