Mesa firefighter honored after work-related death
Family, friends and first responders gathered on Tuesday morning to honor the late Mesa Fire and Medical Department Capt. Trevor Madrid, who was described as a passionate and loving man who was committed to staying positive regardless of his circumstances.
Madrid died on Nov. 14 after a battle with synovial sarcoma. The fire department said his illness was a result of jobrelated exposures and therefore considered his death as in the line of duty.
Madrid’s wife, Angela Madrid, tearfully addressed the mourners gathered for Madrid’s memorial service at Mission Community Church in Gilbert on Tuesday morning.
She said the couple had previously enjoyed the finer things in life — fast cars, fancy dinners and extravagant jewelry. But that changed when her husband’s diagnosis came crashing down on them in March 2019.
“In that instance, you realize your time is a nonrenewable resource,” Angela Madrid said. “We have breath, we have a heartbeat that we cannot take for granted. We have this one life to live and there is no time to wait, because you won’t get it back.”
She described meeting her husband, whom she said she’s “always been so in awe of,” 19 years ago and instantly feeling a soul connection with him.
“We knew we had magic and that was so worth fighting for,” Angela Madrid said. “He was worth all of it and so much more.”
While he was an “amazing” husband, being a father to daughter Mila and son Maverick was his true calling in life, Angela Madrid said, relaying how her children have told her how good their dad was at making sure they knew they were loved.
Angela Madrid called her late husband her “forever love,” best friend and
soulmate, adding that she “will forever be a better person because of him.”
Madrid was ‘full of life’ throughout cancer journey, as shown on TikTok
While Angela Madrid used her speech to thank others who have supported her and her family in the years since her husband’s cancer diagnosis, Mesa Fire Chief Mary Cameli used part of hers to thank the Madrids for the example they set even in the midst of great hardship.
“You took that journey together with style, grace and optimism the entire time, and that’s something we can all learn from during difficult times,” Cameli said.
Cameli said everyone who knew Trevor Madrid loved him and that he made a “tremendous positive impact” on the department in the 14 years he served.
Capt. Steve Heyer, who was Madrid’s captain at one point several years ago, called him and his fellow crew members “the most exceptional human beings I have ever met.”
Heyer said Madrid had a “special bond with everybody in our department” and that he was proud of the integrity and composure Madrid kept throughout his cancer battle.
“He fought 971 days — you never saw him upset, you never saw him down, you just saw him full of life,” Heyer said.
Those qualities came through in the TikTok videos Madrid created throughout his journey, which included clips of him dancing on hospital beds, gearing up for surgeries and reminding viewers of the importance of staying positive.
Heyer said the videos were “a light” both to fellow firefighters and other cancer patients both young and old, going on to say that they’d amassed more than 4.2 million likes and 200,000 followers.
Mesa Fire and Medical Department Chaplain David Vernon said it’s understandable to question why someone so young and full of life and love was taken from his family and friends at only 36 years old.
While he said he doesn’t have the answer to that question, Vernon said Madrid’s death serves as a reminder of “just how short, how temporary, how fragile a thing life really is.”
Those who loved Madrid may be feeling a “darkness and deep disorientation,” Vernon said, but he added that having faith in life beyond the physical world offers hope in being reunited in the future.
“I believe that God is grieved by all of this ... but I also believe that the spirit of God comes alongside to sit with us and comfort us. And if you have eyes to see and ears to hear and if our hearts are open, and even sometimes if they’re not, we can become aware of an unseen presence and a strength and a peace that settles over us.”