Sean on the set of Brothers in Dec 07

Sean Patrick Woerter was born in Park Ridge, Illinois in 1969 and raised in Shell Knob, Missouri. Sorn Woerter, Sean’s surviving son, turned four years old in December 2007. Anyone who saw Sean and Sorn together can attest to Sean’s love for his “buddy”. Within hours of meeting Sean in an EMT class that I was teaching in the fall of 2004, all in the class learned of his son, with whom I share a birthday. Sorn was not yet a year old and Sean was obsessed with him and finding a worklife where he could spend as much time as possible with Sorn. I later learned that Sean and his wife, Jessi, had lost a son before it was born, who they named Devin, and Sean seemed to me driven to make the most of Sorn, who he considered a gift. Since starting work as a Set Medic in 2006, Sean must have been visited by Sorn and Jessi on set a hundred times. Everyone who knew Sean, also knew that he was a proud and involved Dad, and most had met Sorn personally, who I have seen grow from an infant, through a brief stint as a shy toddler, through an active climbing-on-and-over-everything young boy, to a calm and polite young man at his father’s Funeral Mass.

Sean served in the US Navy as a photographer, and lived in Washington, D.C. and New York City before settling in New Mexico, near Española.

Among Sean’s passions in life, martial arts was near the top of the list. Sean studied Karate, Jujitsu, Aikido, Tai Chi, and Muay Thai as well as other Filipino styles, but none seemed as practical and interesting to him as Pikiti-Tirsia, a system of Kali (blade-fighting). He spent time this March training with the Grand Tuhan (master) of the system in the Philippines – a dream realized partly through his long hours as a Set Medic. I was on the set of Love ‘n Dancing last year and some people came up to me and asked me what “that sign” is all about. Nailed to the wall of this downtown Albuquerque store that we’d converted to a dance studio, was a jagged board with the words “BEWARE OF MEDIC” painted in broad purple brushstrokes. I was clueless, but after asking around, learned that Sean, who was working the show with me, had been there with the construction crew and was passing the time working on his moves with some sticks. Several of the crew decided that such a small guy could be messed around with and started mock-fighting and sparring with Sean. Before long, it was clear that in order to prevent such an error in the future a warning sign should be made.

Sean’s EMT career saw him working for Rocky Mountain EMS in Las Vegas (NM), and also with Living Cross Ambulance in Valencia county. Wherever Sean was, he made easy friends, and many of his colleagues and patients’ lives were touched by Sean’s caring and compassionate manner. Set Medic work finally pulled Sean out of the rig, with the allure of better pay, allowing Sean the promise of more time with Sorn. Sean worked as a Set Medic in construction, as a rigging medic, on production and as the Key Medic on several shows. Often we shared shows and when I showed up crew members would inevitably ask about Sean - where he was and what he was up to.

Sean taught Snowboarding at the Santa Fe Ski Area and was also on the Safety Team there and was trying to decide if he should join the Ski Patrol and take more time out of Set Medic work in favor of the slopes.

Sean passed away on July 22, 2008. He was 39 years old.

~Brian G. Lax                  

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