In his 13 years of firefighting, Clearwater Fire and Rescue driver and operator Patrick Conrey has seen a lot, and the death of a firefighter stills gets to him every time.
"When something happens to one of us, when you hurt, we all hurt," said Conrey.
Oscar Armstrong III of the Cincinnati Fire Department died of severe burns in March 2003 after a flashover engulfed him while he was fighting a house fire. He had daughter on the way, two sons and a fiancee.
"The guy died and he had a daughter," said Conrey. "Never met the daughter. How can you ever imagine never meeting a loved one? I can't ever fathom that."
The fire department admitted fault in Conrey's death.
"The hose line was way too long," said Conrey. "It got kinked. They never got water. Mistakenly they thought everyone went out of the building."
Conrey first heard about Armstrong's death earlier this year at an officer training session and was deeply moved to take action.
"Being a firefighter and a marathon runner, I came up with running the Flying Pig Marathon in full gear," said Conrey. "I plan on wearing a helmet, jacket, pants, running shoes and air pack."
That amounts to 75 pounds of extra weight for 26.2 miles of running.
"If you're going to do something special for somebody, you gotta do something extraordinary," said Conrey.
Conrey is already started to train for next May's big race in Cincinnati.
"Every day I'm doing something towards this to get to that day," said Conrey.
Although he has already completed seven marathons, Conrey admits this one will be a significant challenge, but has no doubt he'll make it to the finish line.
Conrey is accepting $1 or $2 donations for every mile he completes. All of the money collected will go to Armstrong's children.
Donations to the memorial fund can be made at any Fifth Third Bank under account number 20311455.
Republished with permission from Bay News9.com
