Patrick A. Nader, age 25, passed away at his home on February 7, 2013.
On July 30, 2010, while on the way to the West Newton Volunteer Fire Department for a fire call, Pat crested a hill less than ½ mile from his home and faced traffic that had been diverted into his lane for road construction. He swerved to the left to avoid a motorcycle that was the front vehicle in a line of traffic. While attempting to avoid a collision, Pat’s car skidded on loose material on the road, and his car hit a telephone pole. He was flown to Allegheny General Hospital, where he learned in the emergency room that his spine was severed and, at the age of 23, he would be a quadriplegic. In the coming months, Pat had two surgeries on his spine, two tracheotomies, and was dependent on a ventilator for breathing and a feeding tube for eating. After five months, Pat was weaned from the ventilator and was finally able to eat on his own again. He spent another month in physical therapy, and we brought him home in February of 2011.
Pat graduated from Yough High School in 2005. He didn’t like high school, and I think we spent more time at the school than Pat during his senior year. On the contrary, when it came to being a first responder, he took every class and training available to him. His final class, the swift water rescue, was by far the one that he looked forward to the most.
Pat loved being a first responder. As soon as he was old enough, he joined the Turkeytown Volunteer Fire department as a junior firefighter. The department was close to our house, and when there was a fire call, he would run to the station. He also worked the fire department’s weekly bingo and loved to go with the department to the local elementary schools for fire prevention week. In 2007, he joined the West Newton Volunteer Fire Department, where he eventually earned the rank of lieutenant and was named Firefighter of the Year in 2011. Pat was also an EMT and an organ donor.
Patrick A. Nader was born on April 1, 1987, the son of Joseph and Jacqueline Nader of West Newton, Pennsylvania. His grandparents are the late Ernest and Aldora Carson of Banning, Pennsylvania, and the late Joe and Nancy Nader of West Newton, Pennsylvania. He has an older brother, Joe, and a beautiful niece, McCartney. McCartney was the light of his life and could make him smile and laugh on his darkest days!
Forever in our hearts!
I had a spinal cord injury around the same time as Pat. We ended up in the same rehab facility. I’ll never forget the first time I met him, he had told me a story that made me laugh so hard. Although I didn’t know Pat a long time, the time in rehab I spent with him was priceless. He always was making me laugh along with others, it brightened the day in a dark time.
– Brandon TI miss you everyday brother. Im sorry.
– Jon