A HERO firefighter saved his family with a heroic last act when a tree limb fell on their car during a storm. Casey Skudin, 45, died at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina after a tree fell on his SUV during a windstorm on Friday. He was traveling for Father’s Day and his birthday with his wife Angela and their […]
A HERO firefighter saved his family with a heroic last act when a tree limb fell on their car during a storm.
Casey Skudin, 45, died at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina after a tree fell on his SUV during a windstorm on Friday.
He was traveling for Father’s Day and his birthday with his wife Angela and their children, Ben, 19, and CJ, 10, who were all in the vehicle with him.
While Casey’s wife and children walked away with minor injuries, Casey died upon impact.
After the accident, Angela went back to the scene. “I just had to see it so that I could process why and how this happened,” she explained in an Instagram post.
At the site, Angela’s father “mentioned the skid marks in the road at the time of impact … they showed that my hero husband had the instinct to turn away from the tree and try to position the car for the impact,” she explained.
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She continued, “His quick action as a highly skilled driver saved us and he took the hit … it went down exactly the way Casey would have wanted it to go … if it had to happen.”
Angela’s parents Ben and Gale drove 14 hours through the night from Oklahoma to Ashville to tend to their family.
Angela spoke to News 12 The Bronx about the moments before her husband was gone forever.
She talked about the moment the tree limb fell. “It landed right on the car, right on Casey.”
“Everybody was knocked out except me. And I just got through the window, got over to him… his hands were blue,”
“I held them and I kissed him and just told him the truth that he was the best husband and best father and that it was OK for him to let go.
“And I slid his wedding ring off his finger and put it on mine.
After this traumatizing event, Angela’s children are scared of trees. “As a Mother I have lost the ability to reassure them that they are safe,” she said.
She described her husband as “all I could ever ask for in a partner, lover, father, friend.”
The FDNY Ceremonial Unit will conduct a ceremony for Casey at
11am on Friday, June 24, at Towers Funeral Home.
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Angela’s only request is to not wear black. She wants everyone to “celebrate the life of a Legend.”
Instead of buying flowers, Casey’s family is requesting donations to be made in memory of Casey to Vetsolutions.org or The Firefighter Casey E. Skudin’s Children’s Scholarship Fund.
