Beloved firefighter, 36, dies from a heart attack just weeks after being fired in huge budget cuts to fund controversial migrant shelters – as his family is left with nothing

The family of a New York City firefighter has been left distraught after he was fired by the department and then died from a heart attack at the age of 36, leaving them without any income whatsoever or death benefits.

Derek Floyd, 36, suffered a cardiac arrest and died on April 15, just four months after the city fired him as part of a budget crunch to fund migrant services.  

Floyd’s death has now left his grieving widow, six-year-old son Ethan and two-year-old daughter Abigail facing the terrifying prospect of not being able to afford their home. 

Floyd had been a firefighter for four years and was one of roughly ten Fire Department employees on ‘long-term duty.’ His firing came days before Christmas, leaving his family ineligible for $600,000 in death benefits they would have received if he wasn’t let go. 

‘If Derek would have stayed on, he would have had a life insurance policy with the FDNY. That would have helped out financially because right now, it’s really bad. I’m honestly swimming in a lot of debt,’ his grieving widow revealed. 

Long-term duty can mean a firefighter was either injured on the job and given office work, or is out sick for an extended period of time. 

The city is aiming to cut the FDNY budget by $74 million by the end of 2025 in order make way for additional spending on migrants. 

In Floyd’s case, he had been working in the chaplain’s office after suffering an earlier heart attack in 2019 while still in the Fire Academy. 

Before joining New York’s Bravest, Floyd had completed three tours in the Middle East, serving as a Marines.

In a cruel twist of fate, the father of two young children was on the path to becoming medically cleared in order to re-enter the force as a firefighter.

‘I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,’ widow Cristine Floyd, 34, told the New York Post. 

‘I think it definitely took a toll once they let him go. He always tried to stay positive about it, and he wasn’t really angry.

‘But you see a person, and the wheels are turning in their brain where they’re just constantly thinking, so I definitely think it did affect us,’ Christine explained.

‘He used to be so present for, like, our kids and stuff. Being a firefighter was something he was really passionate about. He was really a big-time, like, family person, he was all about his kids.

She said watching him struggle to make a living, while at the same time trying to be present with his family, was hard.

‘I really, really loved him, and so it was hard,’ she said.

Following Floyd’s firing, he had found work with a non-profit that helps veterans, but the pay was much less than the FDNY, there were limited medical benefits and he was not able to spend as much time with his children.

‘What disturbs me the most is that the FDNY is understaffed by hundreds of firefighters. Terminating [Floyd] was absolutely unnecessary,’ Uniformed Firefighter Association President Andrew Ansbro said.

‘He had an important job, and the FDNY actually needed him in that unit. He was terminated so the department could prove that they were making cuts. He deserved better,’ Ansbro noted.

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh says the FDNY are looking into how they can help.

‘We are heartbroken over the passing of former Probationary Firefighter Derek Floyd, and will explore all financial, legal and legislative options to help his family and ensure they have the support they need during this time,’ said Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh.