Officer Danita Marsh Petition for an Extreme Make Over Home Edition-Truth! but a Grass Roots Movement!

Petition to Nominate Officer Danita Marsh for an ABC Extreme Make Over Home Edition-Truth! but a Grass Roots Movement!

Summary of the eRumor:
An email petition nominating Officer Danita Marsh of Nashville for an ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The email says that Officer Marsh was ambushed, critically wounded and left paralyzed from the waist down while responding to a domestic violence call.

The Truth:

According to a Nashville Government Web Site, police officer Danita Marsh was "ambushed and severely wounded in a callous and cowardly attack on October 27, continues to slowly recover at Vanderbilt University Medical Center." The attack occurred in 2006 while she was responding to a domestic violence call.

The Metropolitan Police of Nashville issued a media release on January 19, 2008 naming officer Marsh Metropolitan Police Department’s Patrol Officer of the Year for 2006. According to the release, "As Officer Marsh continues to recover from her gunshot wounds, the 100 Club of Nashville has committed to help her regain some of life’s basic choices by financing the purchase of accessible housing and a specially equipped vehicle." Click for release.

The City of Nashville Hundred Club, a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1979, has distributed over $400,000 to families of fallen police officers and firefighters to retire their debts. Another release dated August 16, 2007, said the Hundred Club presented Officer Marsh a brand new modified 2007 Buick Terraza, equipped with a wheelchair lift, customized restraint system, and special controls. Click for release.

The email campaign petition for the Extreme Makeover Home Edition nomination was not started by the Metropolitan Police Department but is speculated to have been started by a concerned citizen. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told Truthorfiction.com that this petition campaign would not apply in the case of Officer Marsh because she is not a home owner. The Nashville 100 club organization is making an effort to provide special housing for Officer Marsh and information for making tax deductible contributions to assist Officer Marsh can be found on the releases.

The ABC Extreme Make Over Home Edition web site has an application process with links to forms and a mailing address to send suggestions, photos and videos of deserving families in desperate need of a home makeover.

updated 11/18/08

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

On October 27, 2006 Officer Danita Marsh, a Black female Nashville (TN) police officer, was ambushed while sitting in her patrol vehicle trying to assist a domestic violence victim. That fateful day changed a lot of lives. It changed Danita's Marsh's life forever. She is now paralyzed from the waist down.

Officer Marsh, like countless other officers suit up everyday to go out to our city streets to keep the peace, insure decorum, and try to keep our families safe. Let's show Officer Marsh that we appreciate her and her commitment to service.

We are one big extended family. We've asked Extreme Makeover-Home Edition to assist Officer Marsh in achieving her goal that she vowed to walk again.

Show how much you believe in that goal by putting your name down to let ABC Producer s know that we want this story of courage and determination to make the show for a newly built house for Danita Marsh and her son, to meet their special needs.

When you forward, please scroll down to add your name, city & zip. We need at least 500 names or. Send it to everyone you know.