When Kurtis Robinson lost his life at just 32 years old, his family, friends, and work colleagues were left devastated, and in disbelief, that the father-of-one had been taken from them so soon.
Kurtis was a firefighter based at Knock Fire Station in East Belfast. He suffered from an issue with his kidneys, which led to a heart attack in October 2023. After going into heart failure, Kurtis was induced into a coma in January this year but tragically passed away in February.
A Just Giving page was set up by Kurtis’ colleagues in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service when he was in hospital which raised funds to support his wife Natalie and their one-year-old son Benny. As part of the fundraising activities, Kurtis’ colleagues organised a football match as Kurtis was a keen player. When Kurtis sadly passed away, his colleagues wanted to do something to create a positive legacy for their friend. They restarted the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Football Club, which had disbanded in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Kurtis’ memory and decided to support Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) as their charity partner.
Teddy Cully, Kurtis’ friend and colleague at Knock Fire Station explains; “The charity match and what happened to Kurtis really spurred the guys on to get the football team up and going again. We decided on NICHS as a charity partner in tribute to Kurtis and to remember him.”
“What happened to Kurtis was tragic, it was such a shock. Kurtis was a brilliant guy and so well thought of and liked by all his colleagues. He was just that type of guy that you couldn’t not get on with. Your team in the Fire and Rescue Service are like your family in a way, we are very closely knit and losing Kurtis took its toll on everyone. But this has been something positive for us all to do and we are glad we are able to do something in Kurtis’ memory and something that will help others by raising money for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke.”
The team are playing in the UK Fire Service Cup and had their first match in October. Teddy says; “Kurtis’ son Benny was our mascot for the match which was so special. We beat Durham and Darlington’s team 7-2. We played the match at Dundela Football Club which is near Knock Fire Station. They were very supportive and didn’t charge us for using the pitch.”
“Other people and businesses have been incredibly supportive too, sponsoring our tracksuits and kits, which have the NICHS logo on them. The charity also gave us warm-up tops which was really helpful. We would like to thank everyone for their support and donations.”
“Our next Cup game is against West Scotland on 30th January. We are hoping to do Kurtis proud and secure another win. The 2019 team actually won the Cup that year and it would be amazing to do it again this year in tribute to Kurtis.”
“We will also be playing a memorial match in Kurtis’ memory on Thursday 5th December against the England Fire Service. We are hoping to play a memorial match every year in tribute to Kurtis.”
“We chose NICHS as our charity partner as we not only want to raise funds for them, but want to also help support them with their work of raising awareness of, and trying to prevent, chest, heart and stroke illnesses in Northern Ireland. Kurtis was a super fit guy, he trained every day, he was young. You would never have imagined something like this happening to him. We want to do what we can to raise awareness of heart illnesses in particular.”
Ali Rodgers, Community Fundraiser at Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke, comments; “Kurtis was much-loved by everyone who knew him and his passing at the young age of 32 is truly heart-breaking. We are very thankful to Kurtis’ wonderful colleagues and friends at the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service for all their efforts in restarting the Service’s football team and choosing NICHS as their charity partner in Kurtis’ memory.”
“Today, as many as 470,000 people in Northern Ireland are living with a chest, heart or stroke condition. Almost 90% of our income comes from public donations so partnerships like this are vital for our charity and what we can achieve. The funds raised through this partnership will enable us to continue to help the local community and provide life-changing services for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions and their families.”
Find out more about how you can fundraise in memory of loved one or colleague or at https://nichs.org.uk/how-you-can-help/donate-in-memory
If you would like to support the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Football Club’s fundraising efforts, you can do so here- www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/kurtis-robinson-memorial-cup
