The nightmares still sometimes rouse Brian Cristofono from sleep.
Even now, nearly two years after the last calls for help came in, ghosts from his days as a firefighter and paramedic are tough to shake. Babies he couldn’t save. Parents he struggled to comfort. Crash victims beyond reviving.
“They leave scars,” said Cristofono, 42. “The job can really just be a dark look at life.”
Traumas from his job — the one he dreamed of getting as a kid — led to a severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis, costing him his marriage and causing him to retire from the St. Paul Fire Department in 2017. During his 13 years on the job with various departments, he said three colleagues killed themselves. Twice, Cristofono put a gun to his own head.