By Paul Martinka and Chris Perez, The New York Post
Scores of New York’s Bravest stood shoulder-to-shoulder — saluting the FDNY veteran who fell to his death while battling a blaze — as his body was carried out of a Brooklyn hospital on Thursday night.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro and Chief of Department James Leonard led the procession at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center at around 8:45 p.m., while five members of William Tolley’s ladder company carried his casket.
(FDNY Family Prepares For William Tolley’s Wake, Funeral. Courtesy of CBS New York and YouTube)
The 42-year-old’s distraught wife, Marie, gave him one last goodbye kiss — putting her right hand to her lips and blowing it to him — just as Tolley’s body passed her by.
Firefighters lined the hospital’s loading dock while the 14-year veteran was carried about 100 steps to an ambulance. His body was then transported to the medical examiner’s office.
Tolley’s fellow smokeeaters were seen hugging each other and wiping away tears as the ambulance carrying him pulled out of the parking lot.
His wife, who was still visibly shaken, was consoled by family members as it drove away.
(What We Know About Firefighter William Tolley. Courtesy of CBS New York and YouTube)
Tolley died Thursday after falling from a ladder bucket. He had been responding to a routine call of an apartment fire at around 2:30 p.m. when he somehow lost his balance and fell.
Members of his company, Ladder 135, were spotted arriving back at their firehouse following the hospital procession.
“They are all grieving in their way,” Joseph Kunkel, chaplain with the New York State Chaplain Task Force, told The Post as the firefighters went inside.
“They are gathering his gear and personal belongings,” he said.
Additional Reporting by Elizabeth Rosner
Original post http://nypost.com/2017/04/20/fallen-firefighters-wife-gives-tearful-kiss-goodbye/
Editor’s Note: Our condolences to the NYFD. May Firefighter Tolley rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
