It was one year ago this month when two Boston Firefighters died battling a 9-alarm blaze in the Back Bay, now the mother of one of the brave men is talking about the tragedy.
If Firefighter Michael Kennedy were still alive he would be training for the Boston Marathon, instead his mother is planning his memorial service.
“Michael shouldn’t be dead. Ed Walsh should be home with his kids,” Kathy Crosby-Bell said.
Kennedy’s mom said it doesn’t seem like nearly a year has gone by since the deadly 9 alarm Back Bay fire that killed her son and Lt. Ed Walsh.
“I find it difficult to be planning a memorial, we have to do it we will get past it,” she said.
Kennedy was larger than life; a Marine, a big brother and a firefighter who loved adventure, his job and his family.
“We used to have this thing he was my son my sun. He’s never away from me he’s with me all the time,” Kathy said.
Kennedy’s spirit is also alive in the Back Bay firehouse where his name, along with Walsh’s, is printed on the side of Ladder 15.
“I really don’t want people to forget,” Kathy said.
Since her son’s death, Kathy turned her tragedy into something positive, creating the Last Call Foundation to raise money and awareness to keep firefighters safer.
“He’s inspiring me so I feel like he’s with me,” she said.
No one has been criminally charged with the fire, but Kathy still has questions and hopes the upcoming federal report will answer them.