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Bike trip held to honor EMS providers who died while on duty

“This is not about us. It’s about the people that we lost and it’s about raising awareness and getting money for a memorial,” EMT Keith Wesley said

By EMS1 Staff

MADISON, Wis. — A group of EMS providers are biking to honor those who died in the line of duty.

Channel 3000 reported that around 75 EMS providers who died on the job are being honored with a bike ride through the Midwest.

“This is not about us. It’s about the people that we lost and it’s about raising awareness and getting money for a memorial because this is the one area of public safety that doesn’t have a memorial in our nation’s capital,” Keith Wesley, MD said.

EMT David Rogers said the struggle of the long bike ride does not compare to what the families of the fallen EMS providers have gone through in the past year.

“You know, our legs are sore, our butts are sore but it’s nothing compared to the pain that these families feel when they have a loss, so it’s our contribution of the things that we can do to recognize those individuals and honor them,” he said. “We carry dog tags for each one of them. We carry two so if we meet a family member or we meet a family member later on, we give them the tag.”

The bikers will finish the ride in Chicago, and are expected to complete the journey in the next couple of days.

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