Thousands Honor Virginia Paramedic Killed on Duty

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Alexandria paramedic Joshua Weissman might have been a bit embarrassed by the massive scale of his funeral, but he also would have been proud of the tribute to his profession, speakers at his funeral service said Thursday.

"In life, Josh was a humble man," cantor Sharon Steinberg of the Beth El Hebrew Congregation said at the start of the service. "He would have been humbled by this outpouring of support and love."

But, Steinberg said, Josh was proud of being a paramedic and would have been proud to see the masses of firefighters and paramedics who turned out to honor his life.

Weissman, 33, a Bristow resident, died Feb. 9 from injuries he suffered while responding to an emergency on Interstate 395.

Police said Weissman was responding to a car fire on the HOV lanes, where there is a three-foot gap between two cement barriers on the highway. Police said Weissman was climbing over one of the barriers to reach the car fire, when he fell about 30 feet into Four Mile Creek and suffered severe head injuries. He died the next day.

Thursday nearly 2,000 mourners filled Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria and several tents outside the temple to pay their respects.

About 200 fire trucks and ambulances from throughout Northern Virginia, Washington and Maryland, lined Seminary Road and nearby streets in Alexandria, which were closed for the funeral.

Several ambulances from Prince William County were among those along the route to Ivy Hill Cemetery, where Weissman was laid to rest.

Color guard units lined the street as Weissman's casket passed. Other area residents came out of their houses and lined the sidewalks, many carrying small American flags. Some children wore plastic firefighter helmets.

Children standing in front of MacArthur Elementary School held a large, handwritten sign that said, "Thank you for what you do."

At his funeral service, Weissman's friends and family members shared their favorite stories about him and said they'll miss his sense of humor, his signature high-pitched giggle, and the stories he would tell.

Paramedic Kelsea Bonkoski, Weissman's longtime medic partner, drew laughs from the gathering as she described Weissman's fear of fish.

One day, she and others were on a boat in the Potomac River. Weissman remained on the dock, but noticed that Bonkoski's dog, on a separate raft, was floating away.

Without hesitation, she said, Weissman dove in the water to save the dog.

"He forgot his fear and rescued our dog," she said.

Weissman's brother, Gabriel Weissman, said Josh was a good older brother, whose passion in life was being a paramedic.

"Josh was meant to be an emergency rescue worker and he knew it from the beginning," he said.

From the time Weissman was 6 years old he wanted to be a firefighter, Steinberg said. At 16, he began volunteering with the Cayuga Heights Fire Department in New York, where he became interested in emergency medical care.

He attended Ithaca College, where he continued to volunteer as a firefighter. Ithaca was where he met his wife, Rebecca, also a volunteer.

Weissman served with the Alexandria Fire Department for more than seven years.

"What was important to Josh, as it was until his last day, was serving the public," Steinberg said.

Alexandria Fire Department Chief Adam Thiel described responding to I-395 after Weissman's fall.

"I'll never forget that moment, looking over the side of the barrier and seeing Josh," he said. "The only thing that would have been worse than being there would be not being there."

Weissman's death is the first line-of-duty-death in the Alexandria fire department's history.

Thiel said Weissman embodied the Alexandria Fire Department's mission statement, which emphasizes dedication to community, the profession and fellow firefighters and paramedics.

"There is no question that Josh lived that every day," Thiel said. "Not because that's on a T-shirt, but because that's how he rolled, until the very last."

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-530-3908.