Father Manny Alvarez counsels, comforts Miami firefighters as chaplain
MIAMI - With National Suicide Prevention Month in September, Father Manny Alvarez is now comforting and counseling firefighters as City of Miami chaplain.
Alvarez knows has personal experience of mental health issues of firefighters.
His brother Danny died in 2014 after battling post-traumatic stress disorder
"It's more personal because of my little brother," Father Alvarez said. "My little brother was the City of Miami firefighter. He was an extraordinary firefighter, was admired by his peers, a fearless firefighter.
Father Manny said like many first responders, Danny felt his work deeply.
"He has a bigger heart than me because he's always looking for the underdog, always looking for the person in need.
Father Manny said his brother experienced tragedy first-hand.
"It was his rookie year when he was working for the Naples Fire Department and he was trying to rescue a child," the priest recalled. "The child died in his arms and I'll never forget that. And after that, he pretty much was tight-lipped about the things that he experienced and it always worried me. But I never thought it would end up the way it did."
Statistics show law enforcement officers and firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.
In July, a Miami-Dade firefighter took his own life.
Last year, the then-director of the Miami Dade Police Department shot himself in the head.
It's a topic many prefer to keep private, but that's slowly starting to change.
Helping people runs in the Alvarez family.
Alvarez is head priest at the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables.
Now, Father Manny wants to be a listening ear for firefighters, providing counsel and comfort.
"First responders deal with so many tragic situations," he said. "So many traumatic situations that they just can't escape ... If something sticks in their head or sticks in their heart that they want to unload and talk about that, then I'm there for them to be able to talk about it."
When asked if his brother's untimely death tested his faith, this is what he had to say: "Of course, it tests your faith. It has to because these aren't things that you're prepared to confront, even though I've confronted it as a priest with other families. But you think, 'Oh, as a priest, it's not going to happen to my family. It's not going to happen to our perfect family.' But PTSD and suicide doesn't know bounds."
It's not just a concern for firefighters. Police officer mental health is also top of mind a year after the former police director shot himself in the head.
"Freddie was just a great guy and he was overwhelmed and look what happened," retired Sgt. J.C. Prellezo said.
Prellezo served in the Miami-Dade Police Department for almost three decades, part of that time, he said, as Freddie Ramirez's former partner.
He said events like the Surfside building collapse and the on-duty death of Officer Cesar "Echy" Echaverry have weighed heavily on the department in recent years.
"As you go through your career and you've seen all these things, you bank them. I like to call the Rolodex in the back of the mind. My therapist told me that," Prellezo said. "You see a dead baby, you file it. Your partner gets murdered, you file it. And you go through it and as you go to these calls you're unable to process. That's the number one thing that really gets us into a bad place."
Prellezo knows that "bad place" too well.
"I would drink right here in this living room until the point of blacking out," he said, pointing to the couch is his Southwest Miami-Dade home. "And I did that because that's what I call the slow bullet of trauma. Instead of putting the gun to my head, I drank myself to death. It was my way of trying to kill myself."
He eventually sought therapy and started talking about his feelings -- something many first responders are often reluctant to do.
He's created an online forum called "3AM Fog" to help others "feel again."
"There is help," Prellezo "And by you coming forward and sharing your story, you just put another layer of Kevlar and you're now going to be able to help other people. And so you'll be better. You just gotta trust the process and life is beautiful and you just have to wanna live it."
There are multiple organizations dedicated to addressing first responder mental health, including the First Alarm Foundation, created in honor of late Miami-Dade Firefighter Lt. Alex Acosta.
If you or a loved one needs help, you can call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
