An Arizona grandfather’s death is being blamed on firefighters who dropped him as they carried him out of his home, while his family watched him become progressively more paralyzed during his final weeks last month.
Ronald Shuck, 76, was suffering from weakness in his legs on Jan. 5 and couldn’t stand up on his own, a problem associated with his diabetes.
When his wife wasn’t strong enough to lift him to his feet, the couple called the Phoenix Fire Department for assistance.
Firefighters arrived and sat Shuck onto a plastic rolling chair inside the home located in the Pioneer RV Resort, south of Anthem, Arizona.
Shuck, described by his son as “one of those guys that have the best sense of humor, super funny and his laugh was extremely contagious,” had moved to the area from the Pacific Northwest a few years ago to be closer to his family.
As the first responders tended to the man, they checked his vitals and determined Shuck should be brought to a hospital.
Firefighters had to figure out a way to get the weakened man out of the house and down the three front steps, opting to keep the man on the chair he was already on.
“What they came up with was on that roller chair, which is just a cheap roller chair with no armrests,” Shuck’s son Ryan Shuck told KPNX.
The cheap office chair did not have any straps or even armrests to secure the man in his seat, the son said, according to the outlet.
“He’s 6’2″ 260 pounds, he’s not a small person so I don’t understand why they would choose to do that,” Ryan Shuck said.
The elder Shuck broke his neck and back when firefighters dropped the chair the man had been sitting in down the stairs, Ryan Shuck told the outlet.
Shuck was reportedly injured from the fall and complained of neck pain.
The report from the fire department noted the firefighters had conducted a spinal movement test following the fall, claiming he couldn’t move his arms and legs.
He was subsequently transported to the hospital, where his condition grew worse, having become progressively paralyzed during his hospitalization.
“He could no longer move, or talk, or eat, or drink,” Ryan Shuck said. “And we basically knew that was going to be it, so we had family fly into town, the grandkids all came to see him.”
“Watching him take his last breaths was probably the hardest moment of my entire life.”
Ronald Shuck died Jan. 23, with his wife having “just lost her best friend.”
Ryan Shuck says he has tried not to think about his father’s death as it can’t be true.
“Still feels like a nightmare, and I haven’t cried since he passed because I didn’t want to think that it is real, but it obviously is.”
“It’s still not easy to lose him when you think he is going to be there,” Ryan Shuck added.
Following his death, Shuck’s family has been looking for answers from the Phoenix Fire Department, but have come up empty-handed.
“We haven’t gotten anything from them,” Ryan Shuck said. “They’ve said nothing, they’ve tried to avoid it.”
The fire department is investigating the incident and would not comment any further, according to the outlet.
“Someone should suffer the consequences for what they did,” Ryan Shuck added.
