The grieving widow and two Bravest siblings of fallen firefighter Patrick Brady wept Sunday as the department held its traditional bunting ceremony to honor the slain hero FDNY worker.
Brady, 42, who was part of a proud veteran FDNY family, went into fatal cardiac arrest while still on the roof of a burning six-story apartment building on Kings Highway in Brooklyn shortly after 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
“His love for this firehouse, for the members of this firehouse, only came second to the love for his wife Kara,” Brady’s close friend and colleague, Jake Touhey, said after the ceremony, breaking down near his pal’s widow, firefighter brothers Jimmy and Brian and their grieving parents.
Brady, the department’s second line-of-duty death this year, was the “informal leader” of Ladder 120, where he worked on Watkins Street, a colleague said.
“You could tell there was something different about Pat,” said FDNY Capt. Scott Coyne outside the Engine 231/Ladder 120/Battalion 44 station house in Brownsville.
“As a supervisor, he was one of the greatest,” Coyne said. “He did what you needed done before you even asked. He took care of those who were now younger than him. They knew it in the rank and file.
“It’s unfortunate beyond words why we’re standing here right now,” said Coyne, the Ladder 120 captain. “But just for Pat, he was an organizer. He was an informal leader. You know, he just brightened up the room. I honestly think he made friends with everyone.
“When you look back at your own life, you’d always want to be a figure that is like a Pat Brady.”
Brady, whose cousin and uncle also served in the FDNY, joined the department July 14, 2014, and was assigned to Engine 227 before being transferred to Ladder 120, where he served until his tragic death.
Sunday’s ceremony at his Brownsville firehouse, presided over by department Chaplain Peter Purpura, is a tradition for fallen firefighters, with black and purple mourning bunting draped along the front of the building to honor the killed Bravest.
“Patrick came from a proud FDNY family — a legacy of courage, dedication and love for New York,” Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said in a statement.
“His loss will be felt not only in the firehouse, but across the entire city that he served with such honor,” Ansbro said. “On behalf of the UFA, I extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Kara, his brothers, Jimmy and Brian, and the entire Brady family.”
Brady is the 1,163rd member of New York’s Bravest to die in the line of duty, and the second this year.
Paramedic Salih Abdur Rahman, 46, died Oct. 29 after suffering a medical episode following his shift at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island in Manhattan, according to the department.
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