Miami firefighters walk half marathon to raise PTSD awareness
MIAMI, Fla. - More than 200 firefighters walked the Miami Half Marathon in full gear on Sunday, February 9, to bring awareness to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in first responders, Miami Fire Rescue said.
Firefighter Claudio Navas has participated in the half marathon since 2015 to honor his friend and fellow firefighter Danny Alvarez, who took his own life in 2014 after struggling with PTSD. Navas founded Never Walk Alone, a campaign to bring awareness to the psychological struggles that first responders can face.
Navas ran the half marathon in 2015, walked it with Alvarez’s father in 2016, and was accompanied by 10 other firefighters in 2017. By 2019, 54 firefighters joined his marathon mission, the Never Walk Alone site said.
In 2020, 230 Miami-Dade firefighters walked the half-marathon with 70 pounds of gear, carrying the Thin Red Line flag to honor firefighters killed in the line of duty. The ‘chirping sound’ in the video is a Pass Alarm, enabled when a firefighter is in distress. “We turned it on as we finished the Miami Marathon so they could hear us coming!” the post said.
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