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Dad refuses to leave behind son in wheelchair, both killed by LA fire

At least 24 are believed to be dead in the California wildfires. Credit: Shutterstock
At least 24 are believed to be dead in the California wildfires. Credit: Shutterstock

Anthony Mitchell watched helplessly as the raging Los Angeles fires burned through his neighborhood and home, unable to rescue himself or his son – both who used wheelchairs for mobility.

The father was waiting for assistance to evacuate him and Justin, who had cerebral palsy, but the help never came.

Hajime White was going down memory lane, gushing over her father’s response to a Facebook post she shared in April 2021.

“It’s a father/daughter thing you wouldn’t understand. (yes everyone this is my daddy),” she writes in the message, alongside a photo of Anthony Mitchell, 68, and herself.

Eagerly expressing his love for his girl, the devoted father of four writes in the comments section, “She is my heart my soul she is a daddy girl She is everything a father can dream and hope his daughter will be.she makes me proud of her everyday and I am so thankful and proud to be her father and dad (SIC).”

On January 14, 2024, the grieving daughter reshared the post with the new caption: “A father’s love for his daughter is truly special. Thank you, Dad. Although you frequently expressed this sentiment, you also took the time to write it in the comments section of my post for everyone to see.”

Her dad and her younger brother Justin are among the 24 people killed by the devastating California wildfires.

Last conversations

On the morning of January 8, Mitchell made heart-wrenching phone calls to two of his children, explaining that he and his youngest son, Justin, were waiting for help to evacuate.

Mitchell, an amputee with a prosthetic leg, and Justin, who had cerebral palsy, relied on wheelchairs to get around.

Mitchell lived in Altadena, a hard-hit neighbourhood next to Pasadena, with his two sons, Justin and Jordan, the older who alongside trained professionals helped as a caregiver.

But Jordan wasn’t home that week – he was in hospital with sepsis and Mitchell, who lost his leg in 2024 to diabetes, was not able to carry his bedridden son to one of the many cars parked in the driveway to make an escape.

‘Baby, I got to go’

Mitchell had called for an ambulance to assist with the evacuation and assured his only daughter, Hajime, that he and Justin would be okay.

“They’ll get me and your brother,” Arkansas’ Hajime, tells the New York Post of her last conversation with her dad, who was well known and loved in the area he lived for more than 20 years.

“Hopefully they should come soon,” he added, sharing with Hajime, 50, that from his window, he could see the fire was burning quickly through the neighborhood.

But then the conversation was cut short when according to Hajime, flames crept onto the yard of his home.

“Baby, I got to go,” he told his daughter. “The fire just got in the yard.”

That evening, the bodies of the father and son were recovered from the home scorched by the Eaton fire, which is still active more than one week since it was ignited.

‘Cost him his life’

Mitchell’s eldest son, Anthony Jr., knows why his father stayed in the burning home.

“He wasn’t going to leave my brother,” Anthony Jr., 46, told the New York Times. “He would never leave his kids. We were his legacy. We were his diamonds.”

The junior Anthony was one of the two kids he called before the fire ripped through the house that morning.

“Even though he had a missing leg, he did have a prosthetic. He could have got himself in the wheelchair and he could have rolled himself out the fire zone, but he wasn’t going to leave my brother,” Anthony Sr. told NPR. “There was no way my father was going to leave him. He wouldn’t leave any of his kids.”

He adds, “He believed in family, and I think that’s one of the reasons it cost him his life, because he wasn’t going to leave my younger brother.”

Now, Hajime and the family are trying to figure out why help never arrived to get Mitchell and Justin to safety.

“Where was the ambulance?” she said. “Where were the caregivers? Where was everyone at?”

Carlos Herrera, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, told the New York Times that by the time the Eaton fire had broken out on Tuesday, January 7, “all resources were already dedicated to the raging Palisades fire across town.”

Fatal fire

The deadly fire has killed at least 24 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and burned more than 60 square miles, “an area larger than Paris,” according to CNN.

As of January 14, officials said the Palisades and Eaton wildfires continue to burn. “Extremely critical fire weather” is forecasted for parts of the region with powerful winds expected to fuel new blazes, further challenging firefighters in their attempts to contain the raging flames.

“Much of Southern California — from San Luis Obispo to San Diego — is at significant risk of rapid fire spread due to life-threatening winds and dangerously low humidity. One less spark equals one less wildfire,” California Fire writes on Facebook.

Our thoughts go out to Mitchell’s family, and everyone whose lives are impacted by the fires.

Please let us know what you think of this tragic story and then share it with others so we can all send a lot of love to Anthony Mitchell’s family!

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Do you wake up between the hours of 3 and 5am? The reason isn’t what you might think

Sleeping well for an entire night, without waking up once, seems to be a surprisingly rare thing, but it’s actually what’s required if you’re to be entirely productive – without feeling tired – the next day.

Many people think that simply going to bed at the right time guarantees them a good night’s sleep, only to then wake up – more often than not – between 3:00am and 5:00am. Sometimes this can cause problems, particularly when someone finds it difficult to return to sleep.

The fact that most people wake up during this window isn’t coincidence, however, nor is down to bad luck. It turns out, there’s a significance to the trend …

The hours between 3:00am and 5:00am are sometimes referred to as the hour of the wolf, after Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s psychological horror[film of the same name.

”The hour between night and dawn … when most people die, sleep is deepest, nightmares are most real. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their worst anguish, when ghosts and demons are most powerful. The hour of the wolf is also the hour when most babies are born,” Bergman explained.

According to Professor Birgitta Steene, the title is derived from Swedish folklore, wherein the “hour of the wolf” signifies the timeframe between 3:00am and 5:00am.

This period is believed to be associated with a higher occurrence of both deaths and births. It’s also precisely that time when the body often slips into its deepest rest, which is why the body’s functions can be so affected by it.

In folk traditions, the witching hour, also known as the devil’s hour, is a nocturnal period linked to supernatural occurrences. It is believed that during this time, witches, demons, and ghosts are thought to manifest and wield their greatest influence.

The hour of the wolf

For those who are able to sleep as normal, the hour of the wolf represents the period wherein sleep is at its deepest. For those who wake up, however, it supposedly represents the time when feelings of anxiety are at their most potent.

The body’s circadian rhythm (the 24 hour cycle of physiological processes) tends to follow the sun’s rise and fall, meaning that things such as body temperature, blood pressure and metabolism go down during the night.

At around 4:00am they are at their lowest, since this is when the body has entered its natural rest stage. If you suffer from anxiety, however, it’s during this period when feelings can be exacerbated, hence why you find yourself waking up.

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Animal lover finds squirrel with giant tooth, brings him home and gives him a new opportunity – thank you

Living on a ranch in rural Alberta, Canada, Jannet Talbott may be far away from people but is never alone as she is always surrounded by animals.

The animal lover is used to the many animals, both domestic and wild, who live on her ranch and looks out for them all.

One day she was watching a squirrel enjoying a snack from her bird feeder when she noticed something unusual on his face.

“I could see there was something on the side of his face,” Talbott told The Dodo. “I got closer and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a massive tooth growing out of his mouth.’”

Squirrels have four front teeth that never stop growing but their constant gnawing on nuts and seeds ensure most squirrels’ teeth are kept short. Somehow this had not happened with this squirrel and Jannet knew he was in danger.

The tooth was growing toward the squirrel’s eye and Jannet suspected he was living on powdered bird food as he couldn’t chew on anything.

Now she had the difficult task of trying to catch Bucky, as she named him, so she could give him the help he needed.

“One day, I saw him in the feeder. It was like divine intervention. I just had to reach in and grab him,” she said. “Once I had him in my hand, I just kept telling him, ‘I’m going to help you, Bucky. You’re going to be OK.’”

When Jannet had the canine challenged squirrel in her hands she saw that it wasn’t just one tooth that was an issue.

“His mouth was an absolute mess. His upper incisors were curled around and growing inside his mouth,” she said. “When he ate, his teeth were rubbing on his face. He was so horrific.”

She worried that if she took Bucky to a vet they may not be able to do anything for him and the journey would stress him out too much so she grabbed her cuticle trimmers and attempted the job herself.

After watching some instructional videos on YouTube, Jannet swaddled Bucky and covered his eyes; he instantly became calm which was lucky for this talented rancher as the job took ten minutes.

Squirrels have no feeling in their teeth and even after she had finished trimming, the squirrel was in “no hurry to get away,” Jannet said, as per CBC Canada.

“I took him outside, and he ran to a branch and started rubbing his little cheeks. It was like he couldn’t believe those teeth were gone. He just kept rubbing his face,” she said.

“The next day, I saw him back in the feeder — and he had the most amazing little squirrel smile on his face. He was just so happy.”

Now Jannet hopes to inspire others to help a needy animal.

“I really feel a deep connection to animals, and they always seem to come to me when they need help,” she added.

“I’m always happy to help them, and I think if we all did a little, it would end up being a lot.”


I cannot imagine how nervous Jannet must have been attempting dentistry on this creature in distress but thank goodness she did as he may have starved to death had she not been brave that day.

Help us thank this animal hero by sharing this story.

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Jane Fonda ‘calls out Donald Trump’ during SAG award speech

Jane Fonda's speech. Credit / Getty Images
Jane Fonda’s speech. Credit / Getty Images

Jane Fonda’s hardly been a stranger to political controversy over the course of her long and storied career. Once dubbed “Hanoi Jane” after being photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in 1972, it’s fair to say she’s had her fair share of public chastisement.

The actress was also an opinion-splitting figure as far back as the 1960s, when she actively supported the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers to the chagrin of certain sections of society.

This past weekend, Fonda was awarded the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) Life Achievement Award, and used part of her speech to throw shade in the direction of President Donald Trump.

With the current political climate in the US testy to say the least, it’s hardly a wonder that many of the country’s biggest celebrities are making their voices heard.

For 87-year-old Fonda, Sunday’s SAG Awards provided the perfect platform to make a statement.

“Thank you SAG AFTRA. Your enthusiasm makes this seem less like a late twilight of my life, and more like a go girl, kick a**. Which is good because I’m not done.” Fonda said.

Though she didn’t directly namedrop President Trump, Fonda referenced Sebastian Stan’s portrayal of him in 2024’s The Apprentice.

Jane Fonda’s speech

“Though you may hate the behavior of your character, you have to understand and empathize with the traumatized person you’re playing,” she said.

The actress proceeded to then defend ‘wokeness’, stating: “Empathy is not weak or ‘woke.’ And, by the way, ‘woke’ just means you give a damn about other people.

“A whole lot of people are going to be hurt by what’s happening, by what’s coming our way,” she continued.”‘We are going to need a big tent to resist what’s coming at us.”

“And even if they are of a different political persuasion, we need to call upon our empathy and not judge, but listen from our hearts, and welcome them into our tent. Because we are gonna need a big tent to resist successfully what’s coming at us.”

Fonda’s comments come in the wake of some turbulent weeks in US politics. Many had anticipated that Trump’s second term in office would mean chaos, but few could have predicted just how fast the apple cart might be tipped upside down.

Amid a slew of executive orders and typically boisterous claims – many of which have questionable ties to reality – Trump has wasted no time at all in trying to enforce large-scale changes, for better or for worse.

His newly-founded Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, has come in for particular criticism in recent days, while Trump’s apparent siding with despot Vladimir Putin in an attempt to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine has caused concern on the international stage.

What did you make of Jane Fonda’s statement? Let us know in the comments.

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