By FireRescue1 Staff
WACO, Texas –– A former firefighter, paralyzed after an off-duty fall, is raising money to help a fellow first responder who lost his leg after being hit by a drunk driver while on duty.
KWTX reported that Garth Goodwin, a 17-year veteran of the Waco Fire Department, plans to donate funds raised during a charity golf tournament in his name to first responder Rory Barros, who lost his leg after pushing his partner out of the way of a drunk driver. Barros underwent several surgeries before his amputation.
Goodwin, who was paralyzed from the chest down after falling from a billboard while off duty, said he wants to pay forward the kindness the city had shown him, which included the construction of a wheelchair-accessible home and several fundraisers.
“I relate it back to the support I got and it meant, to me, more than the funds raised,” Goodwin said. “Just knowing that that support is there and for Rory to feel that and experience that, I think it’s more of an uplifting gesture than any amount of money you’ll get from a fundraiser.”
Goodwin hopes to raise enough money to help make Barros’ home wheelchair accessible as well.
“We’re going to do it big, as big as we did for mine, and try to raise as much money as we can to try and help pay for Rory to remodel his home,” he said. “It just seemed like this was the thing to do.”
The second annual Garth “Outlaw” Goodwin golf tournament will be held on Sept. 29.