FDNY EMT, 30-year EMS veteran dies due to COVID-19

By Laura French

NEW YORK — An FDNY EMT and 30-year EMS veteran has died due to COVID-19, bringing the total number of announced virus deaths in the department to 10. 

The death of FDNY EMT Richard Seaberry, 63, was announced by the department on Monday, April 27. Seaberry was a responder to rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center after 9/11 and was most recently assigned to Station 53 in Queens. 

Seaberry is remembered as "a kind soul, a true gentleman, and a dedicated partner," the department said in a statement.

"For three decades, EMT Seaberry bravely served the City of New York, responding to thousands of medical emergencies. He was there so often during a New Yorker's most desperate moments," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement. "So many lives continue to be lost to COVID-19. Our department has now lost 10 extraordinary people who dedicated their lives to serving others in the FDNY. All of his brothers and sisters in the FDNY mourn EMT Seaberry's loss." 

Seaberry is survived by his wife Brynhild and his two daughters. 

Auto Mechanic James Villecco; Deputy Chief Inspector Syed Rahman; Supervising Fire Protection Inspector Edward Mungin; EMT Gregory Hodge; EMT John Redd; EMT Idris Bey; Supervisor of Mechanics Thomas Ward; and Kellie Childs, the director of the cashier's unit at the FDNY's Bureau of Revenue Management, have also died from the virus. The department said the identity of one other fallen member will not be released out of respect for their family's request for anonymity. 

Many department members who have died from the virus were also 9/11 responders, including EMTs Hodge, Redd and Bey, former department member and Valley Stream Firefighter-EMT Mike Field, and retired FDNY Fire Marshal John Knox.