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TRIBUTE: A tow truck-driving first responder from Bergen County who was gravely injured while on a call two weeks ago will be removed from life support following a flag-raising ceremony scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27.
Family members of Robert Thornton, 31, said there will be no limit on the number of attendees during the ceremony outside the front of Hackensack University Medical Center.
Anyone who wants to say something in his honor will be welcome, they said.
Thornton, who rode with the Moonachie First Aid & Rescue Squad and worked for Nick's Towing Service, will then be removed from life support and have his organs harvested.
"Another one of my family had been taken before their time. It's a big loss to all of us," Moonachie First Aid & Rescue Squad Capt. Franklin Smith said.
"Volunteers in general are a dying breed," Smith said. "Our families are tight. We fight, we laugh, we cry, we do a special job together. Not for payment, or for praise, but because we were born to help others. "This will be another great loss to our community and our family."
Thornton, whose parents are deceased, had been living with his elderly grandmother in Ridgefield Park.
He was clearing an accident scene for Nick's when he was struck by an out-of-control vehicle on westbound Route 3 in Rutherford around 10:30 p.m. Feb. 13.
HORRIFIC ROUTE 3 CRASH: Tow Truck Driver Struck, Critically Injured Clearing Highway
Police had closed down several lanes, placing their vehicles and cones behind the initial two-car crash scene near Park Avenue between Route 17 and the Passaic River, Rutherford Police Chief John Russo said.
Thornton had one of the vehicles on the flatbed and was preparing the second when a three-vehicle crash occurred behind the police closure, Russo said.
One vehicle hit another, spinning it out, the chief said.
The first vehicle then barreled "straight down the shoulder," nearly hitting several officers, as well as occupants from the first crash and marked police units, he said. It then struck the car that Thornton was working on, he said.
Officers freed him from under the vehicle and rendered aid before Thornton was taken to HUMC, Russo said.
Thornton, a former Ridgefield Park firefighter, has remained in the Intensive Care Unit since then.
A member of multiple "families," Thornton is well-known among North Jersey police, firefighters and EMS workers.
"He's given countless hours to helping others," said Smith, the Moonachie first aid squad captain.
Donations to help Bobby's family are being accepted.
DONATE: Support for Rob, Tow Truck Driver & 1st Responder
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