Injured Texas Firefighter Recalls Horrific Incident
March 28--On a night dedicated to the late Police Academy instructor Tim Young, 13 men became the 94th class to graduate from the Kilgore College Basic Fire Academy.
While the evening was dedicated to Young, who died earlier this year after battling brain cancer, the guest speaker's message was one of hope and survival.
Joe Yeakley, a member of the Lindale Fire Department, made his first public speaking appearance since being badly burned during a seemingly routine structure fire just outside of Lindale on Jan. 17, 2014.
"We were not in the structure long when there was a loud noise and I felt myself falling to the floor," Yeakley recalled. The ceiling of the garage he was in had collapsed. "I knew I had to get out of the fire, so I started digging my way through the fire and trying to get out from underneath all the burning debris. My hands began to burn very badly."
After his air pack got caught underneath a ceiling joist, Yeakley was stuck. Although his partner had called a "mayday" as soon as the collapse happened, Yeakley said, he was sure this was the place and time he was going to die.
"At this point, I did the only thing that I knew to do -- I prayed," he said. "I prayed a prayer that I had never prayed before in my life. I said, 'God, I don't deserve it. I did nothing on this earth to earn it, but please accept me into your Heaven. Please forgive me for all the times that I sinned because I know that I'm coming to see you in just a few minutes.' It was at that point that I have never in my 51 years felt as close to God as I did saying that prayer.
"I cannot say that I saw a bright shining light or a hand reaching down for me, but I can say that I felt the presence of God all around me."
Soon after finishing his prayer, Yeakley said, he passed out.
Later in his speech, Yeakley addressed the graduates and told them he went on the call Jan. 17 never expecting it to be anything but "ordinary."
"I would hope that each and every one of you, if faced with difficult situations as I was, will be able to say that same prayer and feel God wrap his arms around you and say, 'I will take care of you,'" he told the group.
A fellow firefighter passing a window saw Yeakley's hand and pulled him out of the life-threatening situation.
Of fading in and out of consciousness, of being surrounded by firefighters, of asking whether he was going to die and of being loaded into an ambulance -- Yeakley said, he remembers nothing of the next three months, 96 days in the ICU burn unit at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. When he woke up again, he knew he was in a hospital, but he had to begin trying to figure out what had happened to put him there.
"When I looked down and I saw all the bandages and the tubes coming out of me, I knew I must have been hurt pretty bad," he said.
Yeakley's wife, who arrived with firefighters the night of the accident, and his daughter began filling in the gaps of what had happened that January night.
While the accident left its scars, the most obvious effect of the fire are Yeakley's missing fingers.
He turned to prayer again asking for God to give him strength to get through the recovery and to return home.
"This was the first time that I questioned God as to why this happened to me and why He let me live through this ordeal," he said.
On June 22, 2014, Yeakley and his wife were released from the hospital to go to Homeward Suites for outpatient therapy.
During his first outpatient therapy evaluation, Yeakley said, he told the therapist his goal was to run again. Although he had never been an avid runner, he explained to the audience he sometimes ran after work and had participated in a 5K race before, hoping to take part in another.
Yeakley and his therapist began the "Gary and Joe Challenge" in which Yeakley's therapist would push him to his limit and Yeakley would succeed.
"I would pray, 'Jesus please be with me. Help me through this,' and He always did," Yeakley said. "Because of God's strength, I never failed to complete an assignment that Gary gave me."
He encouraged the newest fire academy graduates to turn to their faith and to use the Bible they received from Fire Academy lead instructor Mike Fennel on their first day.
He advised the class to read, study and live by the "instruction manual for life."
"We, as firefighters, are called to this profession as a service to God and our community, not as a way to become a hero," he continued. "No matter what type of call you go on, always look professional and conduct yourself in a professional Christian-like manner... Never go on any call thinking that it's just an ordinary call and you'll come home safely. Every day when you leave home and you go on shift, tell you family that you love them. Family, never let your firefighter leave the house without telling him that you love him and to be safe. This is something Denise told me every time I left to go on a call. No matter what the trial or difficulty you may face in your lifetime, always remember the verse in Philippians -- "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'"
As the night progressed, each of the 13 graduates -- including six Canadians -- accepted their diploma.
Each student shook hands with their instructors in attendance. Fennel explained, "This is what makes this academy what it is today -- one of the most successful fire academies across the country." Many of the instructors work in their community fire departments or with the Texas Forestry Service and use their days off to teach future firefighters.
Copyright 2015 - Kilgore News Herald, Texas
