A fundraising campaign has been set up for a New York firefighter who suffered a serious medical emergency during a fire call over the weekend
Jim Brooks, the second assistant chief for the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Co., suffered a torn aorta on the way to a structure fire in Dresden on Saturday, The Post-Star in Glenn Falls reports. Another firefighter drove Brooks, 44, back to the station, where an ambulance took him to Rutland Regional Medical Center in Vermont.
“He was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck and leaned over to the driver’s side to grab the radio mike, thought he pulled something in his back,” Whitehall Fire Chief Bryan Brooks, Jim Brooks' cousin, told The Post-Star.
Once at the hospital, Brooks was airlifted to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. He then had surgery Monday to improve blood flow to his kidneys.
Doctors could not repair the torn aorta, and complications arose during the operation. Brooks suffered a stroke and a blood clot and was placed in the hospital's intensive care unit.
"Due to complications Jim has already suffered, it’s apparent there will be long term impacts on his life," the GoFundMe page started for Brooks states. "It’s too early to determine how significant they will be, but funds will certainly be needed."
Brooks has been with the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Co. for 20 years. He also has volunteered with Toys for Tots and to escort sports teams after championship wins.
“Anytime something in the community needed to be done and the fire company was involved, he usually organized it,” Bryan Brooks told The Post-Star.
So far, the GoFundMe page has raised more than $10,600 of its $12,000.
