Mass. EMT dies in off-duty car crash

Templeton EMT Tracy Ferrazza was heavily involved in the first responder and military communities, often participating in charity runs

January 21, 2021 08:55 AM

The Templeton Fire Department is mourning the loss of EMT Tracy Ferrazza, who was killed in an off-duty car crash Sunday.

Brian Lee
Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, Mass.

GARDNER, Mass. — A Templeton emergency medical technician has been identified as the victim of Sunday night’s fatal crash on Route 2A.

Tracy Ferrazza, 52, of Templeton, was killed in the single-car crash, according to a spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Ferrazza’s car left the road, struck a utility pole and overturned. She died at the scene, authorities said.

Ferrazza was a mother to two boys.

Her brother, Keith Massalski, said she was “literally the epitome of the person that does everything for everybody else except for her.”

Ferrazza had worked as a personal care assistant for handicapped individuals, and with children with mental and physical disabilities, Massalski said.

Ferrazza was also heavily involved in Tough Mudder and Tough Ruck events. Tough Ruck is a group of military and civilians who walk a 26.2-mile course in honor of fallen service members and first responders, while raising money to support military families.

“She was always running,” he said. “She would carry the American flag and a military flag on her back with a backpack. And usually, in these races, she would carry a pair of military boots with her, representing someone who died in the military.”

Massalski said they have a brother who just arrived from California who’s retired from the military, and both of their grandfathers are military veterans.

Ferrazza had lived in Templeton since the early 1990s. She grew up in Townsend and Clinton.

An online fundraising effort on GoFundMe had amassed nearly $9,000 for Ferrazza’s burial and other expenses.

The funeral will be private.

“We just had bunch of Templeton firefighters here,” Massalski said. “These guys are great. The police officers have been around. She worked with all of them. It’s kind of hard. The responding medic on scene had to be taken out of the ambulance because they worked together so much. There were a lot of people involved in this one. It’s just sad all the way around.”

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