My travels recently took me to the Northeast. Now I can say I’ve visited New Hampshire and Maine and cross two more states off my list. The fall foliage was beautiful, but the lobster roll is not something this Midwesterner will be trying ever again.
I flew home out of Boston. With a little time to spare, I reached out to an acquaintance I made at a trade show a while back — David Mellor, head groundskeeper at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.
Dave was kind enough to give me some time and show me around the ballpark he calls his office. He’s clearly given the tour a time or two, as the first thing he offered to do was take some photos of me in the dugout, at home plate and in front of the famous Green Monster. I didn’t even have to ask. Dave grabbed my phone and started clicking away. The ballpark is beautiful and it was a thrill to walk around the infield where so much baseball history has been made.
We were at home plate when we wrapped up the photos and Dave looked at me and asked, “What questions can I answer about Fenway Park?” I told him that I was more interested in talking to him about his new book. Dave’s face lit up.
In this month’s cover story there are 25 companies and five columnists offering sage business advice to grow your landscape business. Although he is in a different profession, I’ll add one more expert to the mix: Mr. Dave Mellor. His advice has nothing to do with grass or managing people or creating a satisfying customer experience. His advice falls under the category of survival.
His advice: Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Mellor’s story was told on ESPN’s E60 series (“Fenway’s Keeper”) as well as in the SportsCenter story “Dave + Drago” (both can be viewed online.) Mellor’s story: He has been hit by a car three different times, and as a result, he has had to endure 45 surgeries. In June, Mellor published the book “One Base at a Time: How I Survived PTSD and Found My Field of Dreams.”
A magazine article he came upon by chance made him realize he had been suffering in silence with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost three decades. “I never thought I could have PTSD,” Mellor told me. “I thought that was something you could only get through war.”
For years Mellor had horrific car crash nightmares every night. “I knew the sun was going to set … I knew I was going to have a nightmare … the question was how many?” Mellor said. “Instead of asking for help … I kept it as a deeply guarded secret.”
The article gave Mellor the courage to talk to his wife about what he was dealing with. She was supportive and took him to see his doctor the next day. Mellor arrived at the doctor’s office with his hat pulled down low, afraid someone would recognize him and ask about the nature of his visit.
Today, he says he’s proud to be a PTSD survivor and he’s proud to say he has gone to see a psychologist. He says counseling has made him a better father and a better husband. Despite being hit by a car three times, he calls himself one of the luckiest people in the world. “I’ve been hit by a car three times — I figure that’s better than four,” he says. “I’ve had 45 surgeries. I figure that’s better than 46.”
Mellor says he hopes people will learn from his book and be encouraged to celebrate life every day. He also hopes it will encourage people not to be afraid.
“Tonight there will be 37,000 people here at the ballpark,” Mellor told me. “Every one of those people, either themselves or a loved one, is dealing with something. We want people to not be afraid to ask for help.”
