The Ultimate Sacrifice

Let me preface this with a heartfelt apology for those of you that are having to learn some of the details of John's death through this post.  As you know, the news coverage was a little overwhelming and I thought it was best to do whatever I could to protect the kids from everything going on.  Most of you know that I'm a very private person and I tried to stay out of the media as best I could.  

Here's a recap of the night:
The City of Shawnee Fire Department responded to a residential house fire in Shawnee a little before 9:00 pm on May 22, 2010.  It was originally reported that the residents were in the house, along with their pets.  John was assigned to search and rescue operations on Engine 71.

John and his captain went in through the front door and found a dog in the laundry room.  John rescued the dog (he was such an animal lover!).  At that point in time, it was determined that no one else was in the house.  However, conflicting reports from a nearby neighbor indicated that they thought the homeowner was still inside.

John and his captain then went back into the house in search of the homeowner.  At some point in time, he became separated from his captain and called out for help.  A mayday was called and the search for John began.  About 10 minutes later, one of the crews located John in the master bathroom and carried him out of the house. 

The paramedics found John unresponsive and performed CPR at the scene.  They intubated him and took him by ambulance to Shawnee Mission Medical Center where he was admitted to the ER around 9:49 pm.  Around 10:05 pm, John was pronounced dead with the cause of death being carbon monoxide toxicity.

What Happened?
Obviously we'll never know the exact details of that night, but we believe John suffered from heat exhaustion which caused him to get sick in his mask.  After this happened, he removed his face piece to try and clear his mask.  When he did this, he inhaled smoke and toxic gases in the air and became disoriented before he could get his mask back on.  John took a few breaths before passing out due to the levels of toxins in his system.

The only comforting piece in all of this was knowing that he had a very peaceful death.  No death is easy to comprehend but it definitely helped me knowing that he did not suffer.