(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The mother of fallen Chicago firefighter Michael Pickering remembered her son's service to the City of Chicago months after his death.
“I was very proud of my — [of] the career path my son took,” said Christine Deierl, Pickering’s mother.
Deierl recently attended an event in which the name of her son was added to a national memorial for fallen first responders
“[He] first started out as an EMT and became a paramedic, and then eventually [he] became a firefighter,” Deierl said. “And he was also a police auxiliary for Stickney Township. So he had dangerous jobs through his whole life, and he never complained.”
Pickering died in October 2021 of COVID. He was 45.
He was one of three Chicago first responders who were added to the National EMS Memorial, which held its event at the Chicago Firefighter and Paramedic Memorial near McCormick Place.
“He loved his work, and I know — I know — he saved thousands of lives in his 20-plus-year career," Deierl said. "And I'm very proud of him. I hope he knows it, wherever he is. I remember telling him how much I loved him. I just hope I told him how proud I was, you know?"
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