Chicago Fire Department honors paramedic Robert Truevillian, who died of COVID-19 five years ago
The Chicago Fire Department on Wednesday remembered a paramedic who died during the COVID-19 pandemic, honoring Robert Truevillian with a bell-ringing ceremony at the firehouse where he was stationed.
Members of Engine 81 at 105th and Hoxie in the South Deering neighborhood joined Truevillian's family on the fifth anniversary of his death from COVID-19.
"Five years ago, something hit us other than a fire, other than the traditional things we face every day when we come to work: COVID. COVID attacked this department while we were trying to help others. So we have to always remember that. There are other things out here that can do danger to us," Fire Commissioner Annette Nance Holt said.
A 20-year Chicago Fire Department veteran, Truevillian was a paramedic-in-charge at Ambulance 71, and battled COVID-19 for about a month before his death at the age of 55 in December 2020. He was the third member of the Chicago Fire Department to die from COVID-19 complications in 2020.
He was survived by his wife and four children.
Colleagues have remembered Truevillian as the guy who would slow things down when things got intense on a scene, and keep people relaxed in the worst of scenarios.
At Wednesday's bell ringing, the department also gave a photo of Ambulance 71 to Truevillian's family.