BOSTON (WHDH) - A heroic firefighter who suffered severe burns rescuing people from a blaze in New Hampshire is finally ready to leave the hospital, family members said.
Steve DesRuisseaux, a fire captain in Manchester, New Hampshire, helped save six people from a house fire earlier in the month. A 59-year-old woman died in the blaze and DesRuisseaux was severely burned when his equipment was caught on a ladder.
DesRuisseaux was taken to Mass General with burns on more than one third of his body. His fellow Manchester firefighters have been adding improvements like railings and pull-down shower nozzles to his home in preparation for his return, and local firefighters stepped up to help pay for his family to stay nearby, and also provided a Thanksgiving dinner at the hospital.
“It was an extremely different Thanksgiving, but it was a Thanksgiving, and that’s what I’m grateful for,” said DesRuisseaux’s wife, Colleen,
Colleen said most people need to go to a rehabilitation facility after recuperating in the hospital, but her husband is ready to return home Monday.
“He’s a tough guy and works hard to get through all this and get back to what we consider to be normal … he’s looking forward to being in his own space and recovering in his own space so he’s more comfortable,” Colleen said. “He’s been really frustrated at times, he wants it to be done immediately, but the doctors tell him he’s far surpassed anything they expected him to do in this three-week time period.”
And Colleen said that Steve hopes to be back fighting fires with his work family in six months.
“I always say he was one of the best men I’ve ever met and I was lucky enough to marry him, and he does have outstanding character, and he’s just someone who cares deeply about his friends and his family and those firefighters are his family,” Colleen said.
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