I never met Dr. Paul Ambrose and in late September, 2005 was able to meet his wonderful parents at the Healthy Schools Summit in Washington DC that convened by Action for Healthy Kids. I am the former and founding executive director of Action for Healthy Kids and because of Dr. David Satcher, founding chair, I knew about Dr. Paul Ambrose's commitment to health and role in developing the "Call to Action", the report that brought national attention to the epidemic of obesity in America. The work I led at Action for Healthy Kids' aimed to take Dr. Ambrose's action plan and make it a reality. I left the Action for Healthy Kids in 2007 to carry forward obesity prevention in other ways,however the organization founded to implement the "Call to Action" continues on. Dr. Satcher always reminded those of us working to implement the Surgeon General's report me that it was largely due to the work of Dr. Ambrose and how he lost his life on way to present at an obesity conference in California during the 911 attack.
Dr. Satcher invited Paul's parents to the 2005 Healthy Schools Summit and I was fortunate to meet them. Mrs. Ambrose wrote to me after the Summit noting how wonderful it was to see Paul's work continue. Mrs. Ambrose also took time to send condolences to me as I lost my brother, age 49, in June 2005 due to heart disease- I was struck about the care for my loss when she had endured such a great loss.
It has been a privilege to work on the mission set forward by Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States of America and Dr. Paul Ambrose, in the landmark report, " A Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity in Adults and Children".