High school graduate shares lifelong bond with Starkville Firefighter

STARKVILLE, Miss (WCBI) – High graduation is a special milestone. But for one Starkville graduate, it’s also another chapter in a miraculous story.

When LaShawna Bishop walks across the stage Friday to receive her diploma, the pride and joy will be shared with a Starkville firefighter who helped save her life on November 4, 2004.

Bishop was just a year and a half old and was trapped in a burning home. Todd Palmer, a rookie firefighter who had been with the Starkville Fire Department less than a year, rushed in to save her. He found her in a closet, not breathing. Though more than 85% of her body was burned, she survived.

Palmer said, “At the time that it happened, I didn’t understand the magnitude of what a miracle it was.”

Friday night, Bishop will graduate from Starkville High School. Because of COVID restrictions, graduates were allotted limited tickets. One of Bishop’s guests will be Palmer. They’ve remained in contact throughout the years.

“To see her grow as a young woman and become the beautiful young woman that she is today. It was important for myself, but it was also important for the fire department,” Palmer said.

Bishop is glad Palmer will be there to share in her accomplishment.

She said, “I’m feeling good. I just want to be happy about myself. I’m so proud of myself.”

To celebrate, Palmer has helped plan a motorcade in Bishop’s honor. City officials, neighbors, and friends will drive by her home Saturday with cheers and well wishes. The motorcade will begin at 12:00 pm at the west end of Hospital Drive and proceed onto Reed Road.

Palmer says the Starkville Fire Department will have several engines in the line-up.