Firefighters surprise retired brother hospitalized with COVID-19

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This article was published 12/04/2020 (1997 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rick Sterzer received a memorable visit Saturday morning when city firefighters, hoisted up by truck ladder, reached his window at St. Boniface Hospital.

The retired firefighter has COVID-19 and has been in the intensive-care unit since April 4.

Some members of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg took a few minutes out of their day to drop by the hospital and wish the 65-year-old Winnipegger well.

While he wasn’t available for an interview Saturday, union president Alex Forrest said the visit boosted his spirits.

“I’ve heard from the people that were there his reaction was really positive and he was overcome by the support of his brother and sister firefighters,” said Forrest. “This is the reason that we’re in this profession. We have a very close family, and these firefighters saw that this family member was having a very hard time and they wanted to do this gesture to support him and help him through his battle with this illness.”

Sterzer fell ill during a cruise early last month and was quarantined aboard the ship before reaching France on March 19. He flew home a day later and tested positive for the virus in early April.

In an interview with the Free Press last week, Sterzer said he’s been given some form of oxygen supplement throughout his hospital stay.

“I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. I don’t think I’ve been this sick in my whole life. I look after myself, I’m in shape, I have no underlying medical conditions… and it’s dragging me down,” he said.

Forrest said that reinforces how indiscriminate the virus can be.

“There was a lot of discussion in the halls that they wanted to do something special for him. Rick is a firefighter’s firefighter, the toughest of the tough, so for him to go down like this it really shook up our department in regards to how serious this pandemic is,” he said.

“The firefighters were able to go over, put up an aerial ladder to his room and surprise him with a get-well message. Many of these firefighters had never even met Rick. It was the platoon that was on duty, from multiple stations, and they just wanted to support a fellow firefighter.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell