Help Firefighter Donnie Heal and Rebuild

Help a Helper: Firefighter Donnie Needs Us Now

Donnie Rife never asked for attention—he just showed up, every shift, for 35 years, humbly saving lives. Now, after a catastrophic accident, the people he once protected are stepping up for him.

Donnie's Life Helping Strangers Every Day

At 18, Donnie enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where discipline and focus became second nature. After discharge and back home in Florida, he carried those traits into the civilian fire-rescue field: two years with Charlotte County Fire Rescue, eight with Brevard County as a Lieutenant/EMT, and 25 with Orlando Fire Department as an Engineer/medic. Along the way he added rescue-diver certification, high-angle rescue, and became expert in every task. He spent countless hours teaching new firefighters the method of “see it - do it - teach it.”

During his years with Brevard County Fire Rescue he met Sherry—then considering entering the fire service herself. They married, Donnie helped raise her two-year-old son Michael, and today Michael wears the same badge. Three firefighters, one household. The number of lives saved by this family is well into the hundreds.

Life-changing Accident

On 20 July 2025, while riding familiar jumps at Palm Bay’s Grapefruit Trails with fellow Brevard Mountain Bike Association (BMBA) members, Donnie crashed and severely broke his neck at the base of his skull, the C2 vertebrae...known as the "hangman's break." Helicopter medics flew him to the hospital’s trauma bay where surgeons spent 12 hours placing rods, screws and plates to fuse his vertebrae C2-C7 together and placed a stent in a 90 % blocked artery...the other one couldn't be repaired and was blocked off for now; additional major surgical repairs await once he’s stronger. Think about no ability to look up or down or to turn your head in either direction...you'll get a small glimpse of what Donnie's experiencing now.

After 11 days in a medically-induced coma, he woke up with debilitating left-arm weakness and severely limited dexterity in both hands...BUT we're so grateful he's alive and not totally paralyzed...which was feared at the beginning. Months, possibly years, of daily rehab lie ahead. He literally has to learn to do everything differently.

Challenges Going Forward

Retirement should be a time of relaxing and enjoying one's life after decades of work. However with rapidly increasing costs since retiring from the fire department, the Rifes found it necessary to work just to maintain a modest lifestyle. With costs of everything higher than ever, a firefighter's pension really doesn't make ends meet like it used to do.

The very sophisticated spinal rehab necessary to help Donnie get back to being self-sufficient costs thousands of dollars every day, and that number alone is already huge. Insurance covers only part; the rest falls on the family: two retired firefighters living on fixed incomes. The mortgage, utilities, and future adaptive equipment add up fast. Retirement after a lifetime of service shouldn't be this difficult, but Donnie is grateful and remains hopeful about the future.

Every dollar raised goes straight to Donnie’s medical and household expenses. If you can give, thank you. If you can share this page among friends, social media or even just word of mouth, sharing helps just as much. You can leave a note or a prayer for Donnie here...the fight to get back to normal life is real. Encouragement matters.

With much gratitude,

Friends, Family, and Fellow First Responders and Mountain Bikers

(100 % of proceeds reach the Rife family; all efforts are donated.)

James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.