El Dorado Hills, CA Local 3604 Matt Beckett and his family planned to celebrate the beginning of summer with a camping trip. But on their way there, the family was in a serious car accident, leaving all three with serious injuries. Immediately, Beckett’s extended IAFF family stepped in to help.
Beckett says the family was on a two-lane road when another vehicle crossed the yellow lines and hit them head-on. His daughter was flown to the pediatric hospital while Beckett and his wife were flown to a different hospital. All had crushing injuries.
“CAL FIRE Local 2881 members were the first to arrive and made sure we received fast medical attention,” says Beckett, a past Local 3604 president. “They were great, but what our brothers and sisters from Oakland Local 55 did for our daughter just blew us away.”
Several Local 55 members stayed at children’s hospital with Beckett’s daughter until family members could arrive. Meanwhile, members of Santa Rosa Local 1401 were there at the hospital with Beckett and his wife, helping them contact everyone from family members to their employers.
Once out of the hospital and at home recovering, Beckett’s own local, Local 3604, stepped in to assist. His health insurance has covered most medical expenses, so Local 3604 members donated copious amounts of leave so that Beckett can recover and return to work when the doctor gives the “okay.”
On top of that, Local 3604 members have developed a meal preparation rotation. “We are covered through August,” says Beckett. “We could not be more grateful.”
