Thomas C. Smurthwaite
Hi, Smurhwaite here. I'm currently 67. Thirty three years ago, I was blown up in a backdraft explosion as a Webster, NY, volunteer firefighter. A single mom had left her three kids in a rental house, and one started a fire upstairs. We were called in on mutual aid. By the time we arrived, the upstairs was fully charged and puffing smoke everywhere. Mom met us at the front door screaming.
My crew of two went ahead of me up the stairs. I grabbed the handline and tried to find the room and contents. I opened up on a room to my left, then the next room to the right. Nothing. As I moved one more room to the right, the room and contents opened up, and a backdraft occurred. My hydrant man said it blew out 20-30 feet, and I blew through the hallway, down the stairs, and landed on my Scott air pack (back then, they were hard plastic and steel, not the cool ergonomic ones like now). I came to, my airline free-flowing and unattached. I hooked it back up, crawled up the stairs, and opened up on the ceiling and hallway to give my guys cover. They had finished the last room. Luckily, our captain saw the imminent flashover and barricaded the door as the building wasn't laddered yet. Nice call, Sow; you saved yourself and Carl with the experience that being in hundreds of charged buildings gives a true hero.
Never Give Up!
Dedicated to My Father;
Richard J. Smurthwaite,
Pfc. (82nd Airborne Division)
Saw and Helped at Concentration Camps,
Walked into Germany after the Battle of the Bulge.
Commanding General Gavin under Patton,
Worst Christmas and coldest winter he ever had, in the Arden Forest.
Tribute to Arthur
Tom, who is a regular customer at the local convenience store where I work overnights, was definitely a strange character the first time that he came in. Lying prone on the back of a tractor with hand controls and lights, he was very visible as he drove along the side of the road. I was intrigued, and we talked for a long time. Tom told me his story of how he was injured and how he built his Prone Tractor. While it seems like we became fast friends, we really didn't connect until several months later, when Tom offered to hire me to help him with maintenance around his property. It was during this time that we got to know each other much better, and he told me about how he wanted to make a website where he could spread his story and help others in situations similar to his. I am glad to be here with him now; it is exciting to have come this far with him and to have this opportunity to help people with conditions similar to his. He is a great man, and I am proud to be friends with him.