CLEVELAND — On Monday, Cleveland firefighters hosted an annual blood drive to remember one of their own.
Lt. William Walker was a member of the Cleveland Division of Fire for 15 years until his death in 2013. The blood drive is meant to honor their colleague’s memory, and give back to the Cleveland community.
On Nov. 3, 2013, Walker was shot multiple times in the driveway of his home. Authorities would learn he was killed in a murder-for-hire plot concocted by his wife, Uloma Walker-Curry, for insurance money.
Walker’s fellow firefighter Brian Webb, Cleveland Firefighters Local 93 trustee, was working at MetroHealth that night, and treated Walker.
“I actually worked at Metro hospital in the ER and Will was my patient. I knew he was coming in,” Webb said. “When I heard he was shot and he was coming to Metro, I knew he was coming in. So I made sure I was in the room, I was part of the team that took care of Will. And we did give him – we gave him blood.”
Webb said that was one of the inspirations behind the annual blood drive in Walker’s name is to continue supplying local hospitals with a valuable, potentially lifesaving resource.
“In an effort to save his life, the ER staff did give him blood,” Webb said of Walker’s treatment. “So what I’d like the community to know is for a little bit of pain of getting a needle stuck in your arm, a little bit of being uncomfortable, you literally can save someone’s life.”
Webb remembers Walker as someone who was also smiling and cracking jokes, who was a fun person to work with.
“Will was just the guy around the kitchen table, he always had some good jokes and he would have people laughing,” Webb said. “Sometimes we’d go on a run and we’d have a tough call, and sometimes Will’s humor would help you get over it.”
Lt. Robert DiSanto also remembers Walker’s talkative nature, calling him an “amazing person.” DiSanto began his career with Walker, and he worked with him both at Cleveland Fire Station 31 and on Rescue 4.
“He was a great, great man, a great father, a great firefighter, a great partner. We worked together on the same fire trucks a lot,” he said.
DiSanto also remembered how caring his friend was, and said he wished that the new firefighters in the division would have had the chance to meet Walker.
“Will and I got on together in 1998, and that’s all he did was give, and that’s all he wanted to do,” DiSanto said. “We spent a lot of time together in our first five or six years on the job, but this is really what Will would want, and how he would want it, is to just keep giving.”
The Red Cross set up blood donation stations at the Cleveland Fire Training Academy, where members of the public and firefighters donated blood. However, if you missed Monday’s donation opportunity, Webb and DiSanto both said they’ll be back with another blood drive next November and every year beyond.
“If he had his hand on my – which he probably does have his hand on my shoulder right now – he’d probably say keep it going,” DiSanto said. “Keep it going, not for me, not for William Walker, but for everything that donating blood and the blood drive does for our community and the City of Cleveland. He would just say, ‘keep it going.’”