Before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Tampa, Florida, officials there made an effort to help a man who went by the TikTok handle “Lieutenant Dan.” The man, whose true name is apparently Joseph Malinowski, defied their attempts to disembark from his 20-foot boat and chose instead to weather the storm.
Malinowski was filmed by Terrence Concannon, who uploaded the popular TikTok on October 8 and showed him justifying his choice. Malinowski, who was inspired by the Forrest Gump character, boldly declares his belief in God in the video, saying, “God told me to come out here and acquire a boat. I’m safe with him. We’re going to get through this. He brashly said, “Hell no,” when asked if he would be donning a life jacket, stating that his yacht was the safest place for him to be.
Around 43 million people had viewed the film as of October 9, garnering both local and national interest. Authorities in Tampa were worried about his safety, but Malinowski refused to leave despite multiple attempts to persuade him. The local police said that although they would have helped, they would eventually be unable to get to him due to the storm’s increasing conditions.
Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa first said that Malinowski had been rescued and taken to a shelter during a press conference. Brian Entin, a reporter for NewsNation, swiftly refuted this, posting a picture of Malinowski remaining on his boat as evidence that he had not departed. Later on, the mayor’s office stated that Malinowski had initially decided to depart but ended up staying.
Concannon, the person who first uploaded the popular video, launched a GoFundMe page in support of Malinowski, which raised almost $23,000. The money is meant to assist Malinowski—who has been called a “modern-day pirate”—in buying a new boat because his present one has “seen better days.”
With sustained winds of 120 mph, Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm, was predicted to make landfall on Florida’s west-central coast as of October 9. Malinowski made the decision to stay on his boat despite several orders for the locals to leave, putting his faith and the security of his craft at risk.
Teacher secretly records coach touching girls hair and the mother speaks up after seeing the footage
Getting inside the classroom every day and trying to cope with all those students who have different personalities and learn using different strategies isn’t that easy. However, watching a shy student raising their hand and speaking in front of the whole class, or seeing a struggling student getting an ‘A’ makes you realize that it’s all worth it. It requires only special people to be teachers, because not everyone can rise to the task of shaping young minds into compassionate and responsible people who’d become a valuable part of the community.
The ideal teachers always go the extra mile just to make sure their students are doing their best to achieve the most they can. This help usually expands outside of the classroom too. And even if this effort may not be recognized by the parents, the school’s principal, or the community, that doesn’t really mater, because teachers know how great of an impact they make.
One physical education teacher from Valdosta, Georgia was giving his students a lesson in basketball when one of them, a girl named Kristin Paulk, approached and asked him whether he could do her a favor. The teacher said yes even before he knew what she would ask. The girl then said: “Can you tie my hair in a ponytail?” The teacher didn’t think twice before he knelt down and started doing her hair. Meanwhile, a fellow colleague named Kandice Anderson noticed the quite unusual sight and decided to put it on tape. She later posted the video on her Facebook page, writing:
“When your job goes beyond teaching… #CoachO #Love”
Kandice only wanted to show her friends what it really takes to be a teacher, and never did she think the video would be seen more than 3 million times. The phys ed teacher had no idea his kind act vent viral and he became famous. People found this way too adorable, and he was featured on Good Morning America.
“It was shocking to me that it got that much attention because we all do it.”
The teacher has three children on his own so he happens to know how to make a ponytail. He jokes how his expertise in hair styling stops there and if sweet Kristin wanted a more complex hairstyle she should have probably asked someone else to do it for her.
Kristin’s mother was also a guest at Good Morning America where she shared how she felt like after watching the video. She says she is more than happy knowing her girl has a teacher who cares so much.
We hope there are more teachers like this coach out there, who would do anything for their students’ well being.
This video is the sweetest thing you’ll see all day.
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