Jerry Chapman had dreams of becoming a helicopter medic and was always willing to help others in need.
It's the primary reason he eventually gravitated toward firefighting after attending school to work with computers.
“He was very kind," the late firefighter's mother, Rhonda, said in a recent interview with Firehouse.com. "He was compassionate.”
Jerry was among the 15 people killed—including 10 firefighters—on the night of April 17, 2013, when a fertilizer plant in West, TX, erupted in flames that sparked a massive explosion and devastated the small, tight-knit community. He was 26 years old.
Jerry's father Dane speaks of his son as if there were nothing that would stop him from lending a stranger a hand. He recalled a story from when Jerry was 19 years old and the family had just moved to town. Jerry spotted an elderly man and a woman lugging a couch along a sidewalk and told his father to stop the car.
“Jerry had a very humble, very giving, very helpful spirit," Dane said. "He said ‘Stop, stop, stop. You got to let me out.’ And I said, ‘What?’ And he said ‘I’ve got to help that man.’ He didn’t know him from Adam, but he didn’t need to. All he needed to know was he needed help.”
Dane and Rhonda lovingly refer to their son as "a bit of a nerd" who loved Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings. Dane says he actually spoke in the Tolkien fantasy's elvish language with a friend, but the hero at the top of his list was Batman.
"One of Batman’s big selling points to him is that he was the only superhero who didn’t have any super powers," Dane said. "But Batman had the coolest tools.”
Jerry had gone through a divorce and was putting the pieces of his life back together while trying to decide on a career path. After a friend mentioned firefighting, he decided to join the Abbott Volunteer Fire Department, and later West Volunteer Ambulance.
From there he began training to be an EMT, and after several responses where he witnessed vehicle crash victims being airlifted for treatment, he made the decision that he wanted to become a paramedic and eventually learn to fly those helicopters.
“He had just finished his tests and classes preparing him to take his EMT Basic. And having started volunteering in the fire department, he always wanted to fly. And he was just a poor little country boy so he had to figure out a route," Rhonda said. "He began the EMT class and he loved it. It clicked. He got it. He was good at it."
Dane has no doubt his son would have fulfilled his dreams and eventually been at the stick on a medical helicopter.
"That was his path," he said. "That’s the way he saw things working for him. He was very headstrong and once he got something in his head he was either going to do it or die trying.”
While marking the five-year anniversary of that tragic night becomes just another news item for many who aren't connected to West, the Chapmans continue to live with the gaping hole left behind by their son, but the healing continues through their work with the Abbott department and the Texas LODD Task Force.
"There’s always going to be that huge void in your life," Rhonda said. "However, have we received many blessings through people? We have. People that we’ve come to know that helped carry us through that trauma. We’ve actually connected with the department and I am the secretary for the department now. We still connect with those people even though we’re not active firefighters.”
After the Chapmans received loving care and support from Texas LODD, they felt it was appropriate to become involved and lend a hand to families finding themselves in the same position they did five years ago. Rhonda works as the fallen families coordinator for Texas LODD, helping to follow up and minister to families who have lost a loved one either through an on-duty incident, heart attack, cancer or suicide.
“We made a choice to accept that help and to be a part of it," Rhonda said. "We chose to meet and team with people who are in our shoes. It lets you know you’re not alone. We have made that choice to pursue healing."
The Chapmans say they find comfort in being around firefighters who knew and worked with their son, and the stories and laughs they share keep his kind and generous spirit alive.
“What this has taught us is that firefighters are firefighters no matter where you go anywhere in the world, and they’re here for each other,” Dane said.
Rhonda agrees and says she found great comfort in learning that her son was constantly looked after by fellow firefighters following the incident.
“We’ve gained through the fire service," she said. "It really is a brotherhood. We are embraced everywhere we go. Stories of compassion. It’s just amazing.”
