News

By Dan Moffett

    SOUTH PALM BEACH — Mark Harris worked for 27 years as a paramedic with the Fire Department of New York, and on 9/11 arrived at Ground Zero just as the second airplane hit the tower.
    Years later, after retiring to South Palm Beach, Mr. Harris became a popular lecturer on emergency response and told his audiences how that tragic day taught him about the random nature of life and death.
    He recalled standing in a group of first responders several hundred feet from the second building when it came down. Mr. Harris said he ran to the left. The others ran to the right. He lived. They didn’t.
    Mr. Harris died of cancer on May 13. He was 54.
    Bob Vitas, the South Palm Beach town manager who started many mornings over coffee with Mr. Harris, says the health problems that ultimately claimed his life grew out of the toxic dust and debris that engulfed him as he helped rescue survivors of the attacks.
    “He was a hero in all respects,” Vitas said. “Mark was always giving of himself. Those who heard him speak loved him.”
    Since 2013, Mr. Harris worked as a community relations specialist and fire-rescue liaison with Delray Medical Center. He gave lectures around south county on “Emergencies From A to Z” and “What Happens When You Dial 911.”
    He showed people how to perform CPR and how to detect strokes. He showed people how to save lives, and his experiences at Ground Zero resonated through his work.
    Delray Medical Center CEO Mark Bryan said Mr. Harris was the first fire-rescue liaison the hospital ever had and that he developed the position from scratch, building relationships between first responders and emergency room staff. Bryan said the hospital plans to continue the position and build on the work Mr. Harris did.
    “Mark did an absolutely fabulous job,” Bryan said. “He basically improved the care of patients throughout Delray by getting people to the hospital faster.”
    Mr. Harris served for a time as board director of The Barclay condominium and forged a close friendship with longtime Barclay resident Leonard Cohen.
    “He was more than a neighbor. He was like a son to me,” Cohen said. “He was quite a hero. What he did at 9/11 and what he’s done down here, that’s a true hero.”
    Mr. Harris looked out for those in his adopted hometown. When Town Clerk Maylee De Jesus was sworn in last year as president of the county’s Municipal Clerks Association, he insisted on making a speech to the group to contribute to the moment.
    “He helped the town whenever there were events going on with items such as first-aid kits,” De Jesus said. “He was always willing to help and be part of anything that we needed.”
    Mr. Harris is survived by his wife, Brandi, and four adult children:  Michael, 29, Sabrianna, 28, Jonathan, 27, and Torey, 24.
    Dozens of first responders and hospital staff joined friends and family to honor Mr. Harris during a May 19 service at The Patriot Memorial in Wellington, where other victims and heroes of 9/11 are remembered.
    The family asks that memorial donations go to the University of Miami Hospital’s cancer ward for children, c/o Kymberlee Manni, 1400 NW 12th Ave., Miami, FL 33126.