By FireRescue1 Staff
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — The widow of a battalion chief who died by suicide last month is speaking out for the first time — urging others to seek help that are struggling with PTSD.
Authorities found Indian River County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief David Dangerfield in a wooded area dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound last month. Police said Dangerfield had told dispatchers where he could be found.
Prior to his death, Dangerfield posted to Facebook discussing PTSD and firefighters, stating that, “PTSD for firefighters is real. If your love one is experiencing signs, get them help quickly.”
“I asked him out. Mr. Strong Firefighter was too afraid to ask me out, but I asked him out,” Leslie Dangerfield said. “He was funny. He was funny and confident. He made everybody laugh.”
Leslie said there were many calls that haunted Dangerfield, especially ones involving children, WGNtv.com reported.
“There was one in particular that haunted him that he talked about all the time,” she said. “One of these homes on the water, a child fell off and drowned. And David had to recover the body and console a family, and that was one of the most haunting things for him.”
She said about four years ago she began to sense a change in Dangerfield.
“He was not violent or aggressive toward me, just completely irrational,” she said. “Inability to sleep. Inability to take care of his own health needs because he felt he was invincible. One night he was just crying and sobbing, and he said, ‘What do you know about depression? What do you know about anxiety?’ He said, ‘There’s something wrong with me. I don’t know what it is.’ And we started looking it up, the symptoms. And I said, ‘You have PTSD. He’s like, ‘No that’s for veterans, the military.’ I said, ‘David this is you!’”
Leslie said Dangerfield did seek help — he went to counseling and took medicine. However, earlier this year they separated.
On Oct. 15, Dangerfield called Leslie and told her to pick up their son.
“He told me he loved me. He told me I was a good mother, and he hung up the phone,” she said.
Moments later, Dangerfield drove along an isolated stretch of highway, walked into the brush and ended his life.
“I always told David, ‘You are a leader, so if you are brave enough and start getting the word out and digging around, you could lead these guys to the help they need,” Leslie said. “He didn’t achieve it in his life, but he’s achieving it in his death.”