For years, Danny wanted to be an auto mechanic. As a young boy, he drove the lawn mower around the yard pulling a trailer or sled with his dog and nieces in tow. In high school, he took additional classes at Wilson Talent Center where he earned his ASE certification in Auto Repair. During the pandemic, Danny bought and sold many cars. Most of them were for profit, except for that darn Lincoln. Danny loved anything with a motor, and the louder the better. But at 6’7.5” it was very taxing on his body to bend over cars or under the lifts all day.
It was only natural when he found his passion for EMS. In the fall of 2020, a neighboring field caught fire. Danny was the first one there and the last to leave. It wasn’t long after that when he found an EMT program at Medstar Ambulance. Danny loved his new career path and planned to become a paramedic one day. Danny may have been a bit of a class clown, but he knew when to buckle down and be serious. He reached out to fellow recruits with encouraging words and studied online with them late at night. Unfortunately, Danny was in a fatal automobile accident, just before graduating the program. There were no drugs, no alcohol, not speeding: just black ice and a tree. At his graduation in 2021, Medstar honored Danny by awarding us with his EMT certificate.
Danny’s heart was as big as he was. He loved to make people smile. He believed that laughter was a potent antidepressant, and often counseled friends out of dark places with his listening ear and humor. Danny gave selflessly to friends and strangers alike. Whether it was pulling someone out of a ditch, changing brakes in a parking lot, being a first responder, giving a cheese burger to a homeless person, running across a store with arms wide open to give someone a BIG BEAR HUG, or simply smiling and asking a stranger how they are doing today…and taking the 5 minutes to really listen.