Injured firefighter returns to Davenport

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By Ann McGlynn | Monday, July 14, 2008 11:58 PM CDT | () comments

Capt. Bob Juarez (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

VIDEO: Injured firefighter returns
Firefighter Bob Juarez, injured while battling a June blaze, returns to Dav…
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Capt. Bob Juarez is back home in Davenport

The injured firefighter returned to Davenport by ambulance Monday to a cheering crowd that greeted him at Genesis Medical Center, West Central Park, where he will undergo rehabilitation for a spinal cord injury.

Juarez has been in Peoria at OSF St. Francis Medical Center, where he was taken after he fell from a ladder during a fire in downtown Davenport on June 12.

He is paralyzed from the waist down, his wife, Nancy, said. He can now speak as medical personnel capped his tracheotomy Sunday.

“It’s amazing to be back among the people we love and who have supported us all along,” she said shortly after her husband waved to the crowd that gathered to greet him. “He’s always been a strong person, and now we’re being strong for him.”

Juarez, 44, will undergo a host of assessments to determine his ability to breathe on his own, as well as his physical abilities, said Janet King, the director of rehabilitation for Genesis Medical Center.

Then therapy will begin, with physical, occupational and recreational therapists.

“It’s not an easy road, but it’s not the end of the road,” King said. “Attitude is about three-quarters of the battle.”

Being closer to family and friends will be a big boost for his attitude, King said.

Firefighters received a call at 7:43 p.m. June 12 that smoke was coming from the roof at a storage building for the Trissel, Graham and Toole building along River Drive in Davenport. A lightning bolt had struck the building.

Because of Mississippi River flooding, firefighters battled the blaze from the parking lot on River Drive and Perry Street and from Emerson Place. It also was raining heavily.

A second firefighter was assisting Juarez with the fire hose as he climbed the ladder to the second-floor blaze. The firefighter looked down for a moment. That’s when he heard Juarez fall.

Fire Chief Mark Frese said firefighters will be working with the family to determine what needs they have. Several fundraisers are in the works.

“It’s tough,” Frese said.

His wife is grateful for the support shown to her family, from the fundraisers to the hot meals firefighters from the Peoria area brought to them during his hospital stay there.

Being a firefighter, she said, is “not what he does. It’s who he is.”

Ann McGlynn can be contacted at

(563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.

To help

To donate to the Bob Juarez fund, drop off or mail donations to:

Davenport Fire Department Credit Union

2238 Jersey Ridge Road, Davenport, IA 52803