RICHMOND, Va. -- The 10th annual Commonwealth's Public Safety Memorial honoring police officers, firefighters and EMS workers who lost their lives in the line of duty was held Saturday in Richmond.
The memorial wall at Capitol Square is engraved with the names of 964 first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice.
This year's ceremony saw the addition of 27 names, 24 firefighters, 2 police officers and one EMS worker, to the memorial.
Among those remembered were Harvey Hicks, Richmond's first Black fire captain, and Hanover Fire Lt. Brad Clark, who was killed by a reckless driver while on duty in 2018.
This year the wall also included TyVaugh Eldridge's name. The Chesterfield fire recruit collapsed during a training run on July 1, 2021, and died two days later on his 26th birthday.
Karen Carter, Eldridge's grandmother, attended with mixed emotions. While proud of the honor, she said she was saddened by the reminder of his loss.
"To hear his name again being called along with the other 900 and some, it's like he's passed one more time," Carter said. "So that part is the hardest part."
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But when she saw her grandson's name of the granite wall, she felt as if he was with her.
"I touched it, and it was like me touching him," Carter said. "When he gave me a hug, stood by my side and laid his head on my shoulder, and that's the way it felt when I touched his name on the wall."
Carter remembered Eldridge as a wise and "very loving person."
"When he was 15 or 16 years old, I was mad at someone, and he sat down beside me, he looked at me, he says, 'Nana, I would never want to live a life knowing that somebody was angry with me,'" Carter recalled. "And it was an 'aha moment' for me and it changed my perspective. A young child has blessed and educated an old lady."
Carter said Eldridge was also "charismatic," but "very sensitive."
"I remember when he laid in his hospital bed the day that he died when the chief and [others] came up there to see him in the hospital room, he tried to get up out his bed to salute them. He was dedicated," she said.
Carter said she felt a strong sense of family among the attendees, united by their shared grief.
"You don't have to be blood family, but the love that each one of us has for each individual named us on that wall and for each other to know what we've gone through," Carter said. "It's a family."
She expressed gratitude to county officials and the attendees for their support and for recognizing Eldridge.
"I just thank Chesterfield for what they did at the time of my grandson's death, and all of you for what y'all are doing today," she said. "To be recognized, not patted on the back, not congratulated, but just recognized for what you do. The dedication, the love and the sincerity that y'all have means more than enough."
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