By News Staff
YORK COUNTY, S.C. — A South Carolina paramedic is honoring fallen first responders with handmade wooden flags for their departments and families.
Piedmont EMS Paramedic Daniel Thomasson runs a woodworking business where he creates “Flags for the Fallen,” and hopes to establish the project as a nonprofit, according to WSOC-TV.
“We have roughly 200 line-of-duty deaths around the year,” Thomasson said. “(It’s) just another way to remember their loved one.”
Thomasson creates two flags for every first responder killed in the line of duty and sends one to the fallen responder’s agency and one to their family.
Fellow Piedmont EMS Provider Shanna Nunnley recently helped Thomasson fund some of the flags by donating her tips from her job at the York restaurant Hoof and Barrel to Flags for the Fallen. Hoof and Barrel Owner John Hines agreed to match the tips, raising a total of $2,500 for the project, according to a Facebook post.
Thomasson told WSCO-TV that the donation was enough to produce 60 flags. Others have also helped fundraising efforts for the project, including South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman, who signed a flag that will be auctioned off next month, according to the Flags for the Fallen Facebook page.
“Everybody across the country loves them. We’re here for you, we support you,” Thomasson said. “I’ll keep making ‘em as long as y’all here to support me and keep me going.”
The paramedic says he receives responses back from agencies and families who receive the flags, including letters and department patches.
“I had one written in crayon, ‘Thank you for making a flag for my daddy,’” he said.
In addition to establishing a nonprofit, Thomasson said he also hopes to create a scholarship for the children of first responders.