NGALA owner, who was burned while saving animals during brush fire, wins Blue Chip award

A Naples-area company whose owner risked his life to save animals in his wildlife sanctuary from the devastating 2017 brush fires won the Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Award on Thursday in Bonita Springs.

NGALA Wildlife Preserve triumphed over four other finalists to win the Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Award at the 24th annual event held at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in bonita Springs on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018.

NGALA Wildlife Preserve triumphed over four other finalists to win the prize awarded at the 24th annual event at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa.

The award honors small businesses in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties that have overcome adversity to achieve success.

An independent panel of judges selected the finalists, which included Community Resource Network of Florida Inc., Myerside Resort and Cottages, Reliable Permitting & Business Support Services, and Zirilli’s Chilly Treats.

NGALA Wildlife Preserve, an animal sanctuary off Inez Road in Golden Gate Estates, is home to a Florida panther, rhinoceros, giraffe, camel and other exotic animals.

More:Wildfire burn victim Donovan Smith: 'It was like Armageddon'

More:Brush fire burn victim returns home to wildlife refuge

The preserve is also a hot spot for executive galas, weddings and other events.

But after 18 years of operation, owner Donovan Smith never expected his preserve and animals would be in jeopardy.

On April 21, 2017, a brush fire scorched nearly 7,000 acres in Golden Gate Estates, including the NGALA preserve, where 45 animals’ lives were in danger.

“Things accelerated very quickly,” Smith said.

“It came in the form of embers with tens of thousands of embers. It looks like a scene from the movie ‘Braveheart’ with flaming arrows.”

Smith said after successfully removing the animals he realized Walter the rhinoceros was trapped in his pen surrounded by flames.

He then jumped on his ATV and headed to rescue Walter.

“As I'm driving I'm literally watching my skin burn off. But there was nothing I could do but keep driving,” he recalled.

Walter made it out of the fire safely, but Smith, 46, suffered second-degree burns on 18 percent of his body: his left arm, left leg, right arm and face.

“I spent a month in the burn center and I had 600 staples in my side,” he said. “I couldn’t move anything but fingers and toes for a month and half.”

While at the hospital he was introduced to a Navy SEAL who started a foundation for burn victims, which inspired Smith to start a foundation of his own, the Living Wild Foundation.

“We’re going to build a rehabilitation center at the NGALA for first responders, military personnel and children,” he said. “My rhino doesn’t care if you’re missing half a face.”

Donovan Smith, CEO, president and co-owner of NGALA Wildlife Preserve in Collier County, suffered second-degree burns over approximately 20 percent of his body while trying to keep his animals safe during the brush fire in Golden Gate Estates on April 21, 2017.

Through the adversity and obstacles he faced over the past year, Smith said one thing he learned was that self-suffering is a choice.

“Pain you can’t do anything about,” he said. “You do need to suffer a little bit for grievance purposes, it helps you heal, but ultimately you have a choice how long that is, and you just have to shift your perspective and it can change your world.”

The keynote speaker at the event, Dave Stevens, had a similar message for the audience.

Stevens, who was born with two flipper-like appendages where his legs should be, received artificial legs as a child but grew up to become a record-setting collegiate and professional athlete.

“The script in your head will take you farther than your talents,” Stevens said.

Stevens played football and baseball and wrestled in high school and continued playing all three sports when he went to Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Dave Stevens was the keynote speaker at the 24th annual Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Award on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Bonita Springs.

“You have to think about what you want to do in life,” he said. “You need to have goals.”

Stevens showed a clip of himself as a teenager during a televised interview on ABC’s “That’s Incredible” where he expressed his lifelong goals to 20 million people.  

In the interview Stevens described a time when he talked to a New York Yankees scout who told him that his odds of playing Major League Baseball were 30 trillion to one.

His response: “Well, you can’t take my dream away.”

In 1996, Stevens made professional sports history when he signed a three-week minor league contract with the St. Paul Saints.

Stevens is one of the few players to ever pinch hit for Darryl Strawberry in his professional career and was a starter at second base for one game with the Saints.

He also tried out for the Dallas Cowboys, the Cincinnati Reds and the Minnesota Twins.

Dave Stevens was the keynote speaker at the 24th annual Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Award on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Bonita Springs.

As a teenager he also dreamed of becoming a sports broadcaster.

Stevens has since spent 20 years working at ESPN interviewing professional athletes and other celebrities. He now travels around the world inspiring adults and children with his story of overcoming adversity.

“Because I don’t have legs, people stare at me and feel sorry for me, but I don’t want anyone to ever do that because I have lived the most amazing life,” he said.

“You can do anything in life, and I am living proof.”