Kelly Mosca and Pat Nally
Philadelphia firefighter Pat Nally and his fiancee Kelly Mosca sat on folding chairs in a small, unobtrusive corner of a big tent, just outside of Maggie’s Waterfront Cafe. They were just two out of close to 2,000 happy guests who shelled out 25 bucks a pop to gain entry to last week’s “Honoring Heroes Block Party” at Maggie’s, in the city’s Holmesburg neighborhood.
They could easily have blended into the background. Not much chance of that, though. Nally, who was badly injured in the April 9 Kensington warehouse fire that took the lives of comrades Lt. Robert Neary and firefighter Daniel Sweeney, was the center of attention for much of the afternoon. Friends, probably including a lot he didn’t know he had, stopped by in an unending stream to shake his hand, wish him well, and thank him for his service.
Nally, still wearing a cast on his injured leg and getting around on crutches, looked a bit dazed by all of the attention, which, he conceded, was “very overwhelming.” Half of the day’s proceeds went to offset some of the financial challenges that have come Nally’s way since the fire and subsequent building collapse, and he was very thankful for that. But he was quick to divert attention away from himself. “It’s a tremendous outpouring of support,” he said. “Sweeney and Neary … they deserve it.”
Nally acknowledged his rehabilitation was going very well. “Physically, everything is on the up and up. I still have three to six months of recovery,” he said. “It’ll be two to three months before I can put weight on my foot.” Emotionally, though, things might take a little more time, as Nally continues to cope with memories of that fateful moment on April 9, when a wall came tumbling down and changed his whole life. “I think about about it everyday.”
Still, Nally had little doubt what he wanted to do as soon as his body and mind had healed: return to the Philadelphia Fire Department. “If it’s up to me, I’ll be back,” he said. “A hundred per cent, for sure. I can’t wait to get back.”
We have photos from our afternoon at Maggies. The slide show is up top. To see the photos with captions, click here.
