CINCINNATI — A fire lieutenant who collapsed on duty last Saturday has died.
WCPO reported that Lt. David Knapke, 55, with the Williamsburg (Ohio) Township Emergency Services, was taken off life support and moved to hospice Friday. An MRI scan, among other tests, revealed brain damage incompatible with Lt. Knapke’s wishes for life, officials said.
His family, in accordance with Lt. Knapke’s wishes, decided to stop all life-supporting measures and he later died.
Lt. Knapke’s sister, Jody Eaton, said it was “heart-wrenching.”
“If he had a passion and he cared about something and was good at something, he gave it his heart,” Eaton said.
Lt. Knapke’s heart stopped for 20 minutes on May 30, just after he and other firefighters finished putting out a house fire.
His fellow firefighters performed CPR at the scene and used a defibrillator five times to get his heart pumping again. Lt. Knapke was flown to a hospital; he woke up a few times, the fire department said, but didn’t respond much.
Capt. Daniel Bainum said that Knapke, whose father was also a firefighter, had been in the firehouse ever since he could walk.
“I have no doubt in my mind that he died doing what he loved,” Bainum said. “I have no doubt in my mind. If he was going to go, this was the way.”