A Wisconsin firefighter who was paralyzed in a 2003 ambulance crash has died of complications from his injuries.
The U.S. Fire Administration on Tuesday announced the line-of-duty death of Mosinee firefighter-EMT Matthew Mark Deicher, who was in the patient compartment of an ambulance that was transporting a man to a hospital in July 2003 when it rolled over on Highway 39 in Marathon County.
According to WAOW, investigators concluded that speed, weather and worn tires were all factors in the crash, which paralyzed Deicher from the the neck down. The patient being transported died in the wreck.
Deicher, who had been on the job for three years at the time of the accident, was 47 years old when he passed peacefully at Aspirus Wausau Hospital on Saturday, according to his obituary.
Deicher is survived by his mother, two children, two grandchildren and a brother.
Funeral services will be held Thursday at Bethany Baptist Church in Schofield.
