Bumming in Braidwood

By Ken Kennedy

On a mild late October weekend night in 1966, my friend and cousin, B.J. Fitzpatrick, and I were out “bumming.” We were both seniors in high school, always telling each other what we wanted to do after graduation. So to speak, dreaming about our futures.

We were walking on Main Street and about a half block from my parents’ house. As we walked by the Viteri’s house. (Mister Viteri was the Braidwood doctor who came here from Quito, Ecuador.) I could smell smoke and I saw the curtains in the front window on fire.

I knew that the family had gone to Ecuador to see their relatives but also knew that the doctor had stayed home for his patients and work. B.J. and I immediately ran up to the front door, which luckily was unlocked thinking the doctor was in the house. We got about 5 or 6 feet in and the smoke was so bad that we couldn’t see or breathe. 

We quickly ran to my house and woke mom and dad and then called the fire department. It took them a long time to get there because it was an all-volunteer department. When they arrived, I told them that the doctor was in the house, but the chief said “no” that he was in Ecuador with his family. I had to convince him that I knew the doctor stayed home. Finally, he said, “Ok, we’ll look.”

Sure enough, they searched and found Dr. Viteri lying on the floor in the bedroom and rescued him. Saved him. It was a miracle that a couple of high school kids, me and B.J., just happened to be “bumming” on a mild October night in 1966.