I wanna take you back to February 24, 2012. A year ago. It was a Friday, and a particularly cold and windy night. Almost an erie chill in the air. If you can remember what you were doing that day and that night, think about how you felt. Because for two people, and their surrounding friends and families, their lives would drastically change forever.
I hadn’t seen Kevin in awhile, in at least 6 months. So when we FaceTimed, I was excited to see his smiling face. His hair was long and he had a beard. Lime green compression gloves adorned his hands. But he looked better than ever, and just as happy to be seeing me. As soon as I thought about the story I was going to tell for my class, I immediately thought of Kevin O’Toole. This remarkable young man has been through so much in the past year, and continues to surprise us all every day. And he does it while constantly making a joke. So when I asked Kevin if he’s ok with me using his name, “Sure. Doesn’t matter much. I’m basically a celebrity.”
As Kevin lay on his bed, looking at me through his phone, he began to tell me about the night the fire almost took his life. When he woke up, the first words he heard were, “you’re not going to live past the next two weeks.” Frightened, yet full of hope, Kevin looked around the room. People filled it. Family, friends, friends of friends. There was so much support, it could literally be felt.
Kevin, a firefighter in Bethpage, NY in Long Island, and Bladensburg, MD, suffered burns to over 52% of his body in a house fire here in Maryland. It was a wide spread story on the news across the country, that involved 7 injured firefighters, 2 of which were critically hurt. Ethan Sorrell was the other firefighter critically injured. He is the reason why Kevin is alive today, and Kevin appreciates him everyday for it, having a bond with him that only few could understand. Ethan had so many choices that night. He could have given up, but he told Kevin that, “if they couldn’t get you out, they would be burying both of us this weekend.” Kevin so many times wanted to give up, but when he saw who loves him and who would die for him, he fought his hardest to survive, and that he did.
Time went on, and the doctors suggested that Kevin have his left hand amputated, as that was the worst part of him burned. They said he would never be able to use both of his hands again. They said he would never be able to walk. Not only did Kevin survive and is walking around as well as he did before the fire, he now has full use of both hands. He is even lifting weights and on the road to a full recovery. Kevin has beaten the odds that the doctors dictated he would never overcome, and continues to be an inspiration for anyone going through something tough; That good things can happen, with the love and support of friends and family. He knows that he couldn’t of made it through everything without those people.
There was always someone at the hospital during the two months Kevin resided there. Lunches and dinners were provided daily by local friends, DC fire departments and the DC Burn Foundation. Country singers, The Zac Brown Band, even went as far as sending a signed picture wishing Kevin well. And if you had the chance to walk into Kevin’s room in the hospital, you would see how much love there was. Kids from elementary and middle schools made cards addressing Kevin to get better. A stuffed unicorn sat on the counter keeping watch. And patches sent from fire departments all across the U.S. represented the support of the “brotherhood”. Support was coming from all over the country, from all kinds of people.
Kevin continued to use the word support as he spoke to me. Reiterating that it is the most important thing. Although the fire has drastically changed his life forever, it has been a big eye opener. When he is having a bad day or in a bad mood, he tries to get out of it as quickly as possible, because as he says, “you can’t carry on the bad things because at any minute you could be fighting for your life.” Now, a year later, the green compression garments cover the scars, but his beauty still radiates through.
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