MERRIMACK, NH — A New Hampshire family is expressing gratitude after Merrimack firefighters made a touching gesture following the loss of a family member.
David Loiselle collapsed Wednesday afternoon while replacing the roof on the garage at his Merrimack home.
His wife found him unconscious and not breathing, so she called 911.
“We knew it was serious based on what the dispatch was telling us,” Bill Pelrine, a Merrimack firefighter and paramedic, told FOX25.
Pelrine and other firefighters tried to save Loiselle, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
After the fire crew returned to the station on Daniel Webster Highway, Pelrine said the thought of the sudden tragedy at the Loiselle’s home stuck with them.
“It was going be a lousy night and with the house, we knew the garage was wide open and we thought well, just like with any other call, we will clean up after ourselves,” Pelrine said.
The firefighters returned to the Loiselle’s home and asked the family if they could finish the job that Loiselle had started.
“We just looked out and said wow, I just can't believe they're doing this,” Loiselle’s son, Matt McSorley said.
McSorley said he and his mother were still numb with shock over their sudden loss, and that the unfinished roof on the garage was the last thing on their minds.
“Next thing I knew, the Captain was up there with the pneumatic gun, just stapling shingling to the roof,” McSorley told FOX25. “The message there is, this is really hard to go through, but you don't go through it alone.”
The firefighters told FOX25 they don’t deserve recognition for their actions, saying it’s simply part of their job to help people.
“When people call us to a scene, they're having their worst possible day,” Chief Michael Currier said. “Anything we can do to make that day better is what we are here for.
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