The Times-News
RUPERT, Idaho — Firefighters from as far as Gooding turned out to welcome home one of their own, Alan Brady, as he returned from a Denver spinal cord hospital this month.
Brady, 38, was injured in an ATV crash near Jackpot, Nev., in May. The crash killed Jay Paul Setser and injured Jed Elmer Dansie and Jerued Kris Uscola, all of them friends and firefighters.
Despite his rather tenuous trip home Oct. 2, a mile-long convoy of friends and firefighters met Brady as he and his family exited the interstate en route to his home north of Rupert.
“The whole line of trucks was lit up, and I was wondering what was going on,” Brady said. “That’s when I lost it. It chokes me up to talk about it.”
“We drove through Rupert with tears in our eyes,” said Brady’s father, Butch Brady. “We knew we had a special son, but we found out he’s more special to a lot of people than we knew.”
The convoy escorted Brady to his newly retrofitted home designed to accommodate his wheelchair.
“They all got out and filled up the front yard,” the father said. “There were probably 60 to 70 people here.”
It was touching to watch a bunch of grown men cry, he said.
Once word spread that Brady was coming home, it didn’t take much to rally area firefighters to be on standby to welcome the former East End fire chief home, said Chad Call, who was Brady’s assistant fire chief.
“I believe the outpouring of support in the community during the last few months comes from what he gave to other people,” Call said.
Brady said he is at peace turning the reins over to Call. “But I’m not ready to be done,” he said.
As soon as Brady recovers, Call said, he’ll have plenty to do at the fire station.
Call was appointed chief Oct. 9. “I feel no great joy in taking this job,” he said.
Brady “has a way about him that inspires other people to work hard. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better firefighter and chief,” Call said. “I have nothing but respect for him.”
He said Brady gives 100 percent in everything he does.
Until his return home, Brady hadn’t seen much of anything but hospital walls for more than four months.
On the day of the crash, he had joined a group for a 90-mile, back-road trip from Oakley to Jackpot when two of the ATVs collided. Brady was riding in a vehicle driven by Setser, who suddenly slammed on the brakes.
“I’ll never know why he slammed on the brakes, but we came to a complete stop,” said Brady. The second vehicle slammed into them. Brady was tangled up in the roll bar with multiple cervical-spine fractures. One of his vertebrae was smashed, paralyzing him.
“When I tried to crawl out, I couldn’t move and I knew I was in real trouble,” said Brady. “I tried to yell for another buddy to help me, but my voice was very faint. I remember trying to open my eyes and thinking it was just about over and that I couldn’t let that happen.”
Mike Walsh adjusted Brady’s airway, and the injured firefighter started breathing a little easier. Brady credits Walsh with saving his life.
When he arrived at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, he was paralyzed from the chest down and had only slight movement in his left hand. He was put on life support, and the prognosis was grim.
But the single father of two had important reasons to keep fighting.
After several weeks at a Boise rehab hospital, he was transferred to Denver’s Craig Hospital, which is widely renowned for its work with spinal cord injury patients.
“I would give it everything I had to get a twitch out of my foot,” Brady said.
Brady now has gained some movement in his right hand, better control of his left and some movement in his legs. He is classified as an incomplete quadriplegic.
Brady plans to continue working toward full recovery.
“My goal is to give this chair to someone else when I start walking,” he said.
His family raised $90,000 to help pay hospital costs and to have his home remodeled to accommodate his wheelchair. Brady sold his pickup to help pay for the transfer to the Denver hospital.
Because his body lost its ability to regulate his temperature, a business stepped in to donate a new heating system for his home, and another business donated new hardwood floors.
“I thought it would be harder than it was when he got home, but he can do most everything by himself,” said Brady’s daughter, Rashell.
The family is trying now to raise $22,000 more to buy special equipment that will stimulate his muscles and nerves as he works out on it.
“Coming home was very scary. One of my biggest worries was that I wouldn’t get the therapy I need,” Brady said.
Without the equipment, much of the movement he has gained in his limbs will be lost, along with his hope for progress.
Butch Brady said his son just wants to put his boots on and go to work.
“This was a life-changing event that I wouldn’t wish on anybody,” said Brady.
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