Port Richey Firefighter And Teacher Honored By Wife
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FunTranscript
00:00We know the hard work and sacrifice they go through serving our community and keeping us safe.
00:06Let's honor another First Responder on 99.5 QYK.
00:12We have Alina on the phone today for First Responder Friday.
00:15Good morning, Alina. How are you?
00:16I'm doing good.
00:18All right, so let's talk about your husband, Thomas.
00:19Tell us how he serves our community as a First Responder.
00:22Well, Tom has pretty much dedicated his whole adult life to serving the community.
00:27When he was a sophomore in high school, he started as a junior volunteer for the city of Port Ritchie Fire Department.
00:34Then in 2006, he was hired as a career firefighter.
00:39So he's been with the city of Port Ritchie Fire Department for 17 years now.
00:44He is a captain.
00:46He's an amazing firefighter.
00:47He's so dedicated to the betterment of that department.
00:50I mean, he's always helping when he can, always responding even when he's not on duty because we live fairly close.
00:56So he's always showing up to the bad calls, even when he's not working.
01:00Wow.
01:00Wow.
01:01You know, you talked about him having kind of this calling since he was a sophomore in high school.
01:06Where did he that calling came from?
01:08Does he have family members that were also First Responders?
01:11So he does have family members that actually started off as firefighters in New Jersey.
01:16And it's funny enough, his mom had given me some stuff from when he was in kindergarten.
01:22And one of those items was a firefighter backpack and, you know, little drawings that he would do saying he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up.
01:30So I find it pretty amazing.
01:32Most of us kind of go through life trying to figure out what it is that we want to do.
01:36So he's literally known his entire life he was going to be a firefighter.
01:40I mean, it's in his blood.
01:41A lot of kids are like, I want to be a firefighter when I grow up.
01:44And Tom was like, no, really, I'm going to be a firefighter when I grow up.
01:48So, OK, obviously, he spends a lot of time at the station and with his crew, even set on his days off.
01:54What else does he like to do besides serve our community and be the captain over there?
02:00So when he is not firefighting, he teaches part time at Hillsborough Community College as a fire instructor.
02:06So even when he's not on duty, he is still involved in the fire service.
02:10This is the kind of guy we want right here.
02:12I guess so.
02:13When he's not working, he's teaching and he's leading.
02:16What a leader.
02:17No wonder he's a captain.
02:18Yeah.
02:19Well, listen, Alina, we are so glad we got to learn a little bit about Thomas.
02:23And we are so grateful for you because we know you make sacrifices as well.
02:27And it can be a worrisome job, you know, for your husband to have.
02:30And, you know, you're home.
02:31You just want him to come home safe.
02:32We want to do this for you and your family.
02:34We want to give you $200 in Visa gift cards.
02:36One's from our friends at Crown Buick GMC.
02:38The other one's from our friends at Demesman and Dover Law Firm.
02:40Small way for us to say thank you to you.
02:42Well, thank you so much.
02:44We appreciate it.
02:45You got it.
02:46Give our love and thanks to Thomas, OK?
02:48OK.
02:48Thank you so much, guys.
02:50Great stories.
02:50And we want to hear more of them.
02:51If you have someone you want to nominate for First Responder Friday or Military Monday,
02:55you just go to 995QIK.com.