Voices of BackStoppers: Ashley Mudd

The daughter of  Vinita Park Police Department’s Capt. William “Mick” Mudd, EOW 12/16/10, shares her account of the day her father’s death and her thoughts on BackStoppers.

“Hi, my name is Ashley Mudd and this is my story. My family consisted of my mom, dad, brother and me. We had a close bond, constantly making each other laugh and our house was full of love. This was all amazing until an unexpected turn of events happened on December 16, 2010. My dad worked the night shift on the 15th and that was usual. He had a straining shift that night and came home and went to sleep. The next day, the 16th, my mom had a normal day at work while my brother Jeremy and I had a snow day. Since my dad had worked the midnight shift the night before, he was sleeping in late. Jeremy and I were told to wake up our dad at 2 pm so we went in at 2:00 to wake him up, he sat up and said to give him just five more minutes to sleep. So we gave him his five more minutes and went in to wake him up but he did not wake up. We tried multiple times but no response, immediately Jeremy called my mom and people started showing up along with ambulances. Chaos broke out. After what felt like a long time of waiting, my mom gave us the news that he had a heart attack in his sleep. The thought of this was surreal and life flipped upside down. The next few months were especially difficult considering it was Christmas season and that alone is a stressful time. It was hard to adapt to things and we had a hard time making this a reality but we learned that is gets easier as time goes on. Taking a look at where me, my brother, and my mom are at today it wouldn’t have come close to where we would be at without the constant support of BackStoppers.”

It is an honor to serve the Mudd family and every family we take on upon tragedy striking. We support families of fallen heroes by paying off all debt, providing health and dental insurance, reimbursing for out-of-pocket medical expenses, covering tuition and educational costs from day care through university, and assisting with miscellaneous extraordinary expenses.