BARNSTABLE – In April 2001, when Remmy Waegelein was 12, he narrowly escaped a Wareham house fire and then listened helplessly to the agonizing death screams of his father amidst the crackling and popping of burning timber.
His brother Chris, who is four years older, barely escaped as well.
“When you go through the fires of hell you get tempered, or you get brittle and fall apart,” said Chris. “If my brother can go through this and still manage to turn himself around, literally anybody can.”
In May 2016 sitting in the lobby of the Tilden Arts Center at Cape Cod Community College, Remmy now 26, said, “I may not understand the depth of this, but if this story helps one person get through one more day that’d be something, wouldn’t it?”
“I may not understand the depth of this, but if this story helps one person get through one more day that’d be something, wouldn’t it?” – Remmy Waegelein
That Remmy, who now lives in Mashpee, is in college at all is nothing short of remarkable. His sister, Jesse Waegelein, who is 15 months younger than Remmy, said, “With him having mental breakdowns and stuff, and me having to talk to people for him, I didn’t think he was going to go anywhere. Seeing him now is amazing.”
Remmy Waegelein: “If this story helps one person get through one more day that’d be something, wouldn’t it?”
Here he is on a Saturday on the campus of 4Cs talking about the five organizations he belongs to, the campaign for student senate president that he recently ran, the honors classes he is taking, the journalistic or perhaps political ambitions he has for the future, and especially his gratitude to 4Cs.
“How can I even describe how uplifting it is to not hate the idea of waking up in the morning,” he said. “Being here is a reason to be alive and go forward.”
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