SANTA ROSA, Fla. — A Florida paramedic died Sunday night after being sick for about two weeks with the H1N1 flu virus.
Rodney Gajewski, a medic with Lifeguard Ambulance, had just finished a breathing treatment, his sister told the Santa Rosa Press Gazette. The next day, he called 911 because he couldn’t breathe and died soon after. Doctors told his family he died from pneumonia resulting from flu complications.
His wife, Kelly Gajewski, has been hospitalized for about three weeks with the same virus, and is in an induced coma for treatment. She doesn’t know her husband is dead.
The EMS community is mourning the death of Gajewski, known as “Big Daddy” to his friends and coworkers at Lifeguard Ambulance. During his career he also worked as a firefighter for the Midway Fire District; the South Walton Fire District; Sacred Heart Health Systems/Air Heart; Atlantic Life Flight; Escambia County EMS and Broward County Fire.