'He loved his job': Defibrillator given in honour of fallen London firefighter

Captain Bradley James Tanner of the London Fire Department (LFD) had a side job for a decade teaching people, including the London Police Service how to use defibrillators.

Saturday morning, one was given in honour of the late captain, who passed away in 2022.

“Today marks our 196th donation of a defibrillator,” said Patrick Armstrong, executive director of the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund. “We've had seven successful lives saved since we started in 2009, and today, we are honouring fallen firefighter Captain Tanner.”

The donation was made to The Rep Room London, a gym in Hyde Park.

“This is like an insurance policy we hope we don’t use,” said Pete Morgan, owner of the Rep Room.

A 30-year career led to PTSD, which took his life in May of ‘22.

Captain Bradley Tanner of the London Fire Department suffered a PTSD-related death in May 2022. (Source: London Fire Department) Tanner’s passing was the first PTSD death recognized by the LFD.

“The defibrillator is being donated in my father's honour,” said Ariel Tanner, Bradley’s daughter. “He loved his job. My mom told me recently that dad was on one of the first trucks that had defib in London. I think he was kind of nervous about it at first, because he was new on the department as well. But it's just a great full circle moment.”

This is the eighth defibrillator donated in honour of a fallen member of the LFD.

“When we first started in 2009, London Fire supported us from the very beginning, along with the OPP and the Ontario Provincial Police Association, London Fire were part of our first event and we've just always had significant ties with them,” said Armstrong.

A new AED was donated to the Rep Room in London, Ont. on Oct. 19, 2024, in honour of fallen firefighter Bradley Tanner. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)After the presentation, Morgan took some members of the LFD through a ‘hero workout.’

“The idea behind the hero workout is, is to honour somebody who is a fallen soldier, a fallen EMS worker, or somebody who gave a huge sacrifice for the value of the benefit of others,” said Morgan.

“The idea is to push yourself, to feel a little bit of pain. It's an opportunity to honour that person by suffering a little and understanding, or at least trying to feel what maybe they went through to some degree. It’s certainly not the same, but we want to honour them by pushing ourselves hard,” Morgan added

The workout included burpees, box jumps, skipping, and rowing.

London firefighter Matthew Wilson takes part in the ‘Hero Workout’ at the Rep Room London on Oct. 19, 2024 (Brent Lale/CTV News London) Firefighter Bob Geilen worked with Tanner, and said he’d be laughing at their attempt to complete this workout.

“He had a great yet twisted sense of humour,” said Geilen “He loved to push us, make us laugh, and we're going to cry doing this, but it's all worth it.”

Ariel said her father would appreciate the workout for him, and probably would have taken part to honour a fellow firefighter.

“Dad liked to find new ways to workout,” said Ariel. “He didn't like to stay in one place too long, so he was always biking to work or lifting weights. This kind of thing he would have liked.”