Three years ago on Jan. 6, FDNY Firefighter Steven Pollard made the ultimate sacrifice.
The 30-year-old passed away in the line of duty after sustaining critical injuries while trying to save two people trapped in the wreckage of a car crash on the Mill Basin Bridge of the Belt Parkway.
Pollard was a true hero, and that’s why his high school alma mater continues to keep his memory alive.
Pollard was a 2006 graduate of St. Edmund Prep H.S., Sheepshead Bay. While there, he played as a forward on the Eagles’ junior varsity and varsity ice hockey teams.
“As a player, he (Pollard) was a really solid player,” said Mike Leahy, the current St. Edmund’s varsity hockey coach who was the assistant coach when Pollard was a junior. “There was nothing flashy about Steven. It epitomized who he was as a kid. He was just a quiet, hardworking kid. He did everything you asked him to do.”
From his days growing up in Good Shepherd parish, Marine Park, all throughout his time at St. Edmund’s, Pollard wanted to be a firefighter – just like his father, Raymond, who served 32 years in the FDNY. His brother, Raymond, is a 14-year veteran of Ladder Company 114 in Sunset Park. Pollard served a year and half for Ladder Company 170 in Canarsie.
On the morning of Jan. 6, 2019, Leahy heard on the news that a firefighter died in the line of duty in Brooklyn. However, when he walked into St. Edmund’s that day, he heard that the firefighter was his former player. He said the entire school community was devastated to hear the news.
Three members of the hockey program were invited to attend the funeral Mass at Good Shepherd, where thousands of firefighters and first responders paid their respects. The student-athletes all wore their purple Eagles jerseys in honor of Pollard.
St. Edmund’s hung Pollard’s No. 55 jersey in the school gymnasium so that all could remember his heroism. A year after Pollard’s death, the school hosted an alumni game named after him.
Forty former Eagles suited up at Abe Stark Arena in Coney Island as nearly 500 fans – and entire local firehouse – watched from the stands. Though the past two alumni games have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a tradition that will continue once able to resume.
Those who knew Pollard all have their own way of remembering his legacy. For his former coach, a simple, meaningful gesture on the Belt Parkway allows him to reflect on the fallen firefighter’s life.
“Whenever we drive over the bridge where he (Pollard) passed, I always bless myself,” Leahy said. “One of the kids asked me about it, and I explained to him that that’s where Steven died so I bless myself every time I go by.”
It takes a certain level of bravery to lace up a pair of ice skates and play a fast, contact sport on a sheet of frozen water. It takes even more bravery to risk your own life trying to save another.
Pollard’s unquestioned bravery as an FDNY hero began on the ice for the Eagles. As we pass the third anniversary of his death, we pray for his family and friends and all those who cherish his memory.
Contact Jim Mancari via email at jmmanc@gmail.com.