Marathon Run For Captain Michael Fletcher

Hello everyone my name is Eddie Paniccia, I am a Driver Engineer with Citrus County Fire Rescue. I will be running the Clearwater Marathon on January 26th 2025 in full firefighter bunker gear. A very few people have ever complete this task or even attempted to run a marathon in full bunker.

I am starting this fundraiser in order to raise money for the family of Citrus County Fire Rescue's former Training Captain Michael Fletcher who died tragically on July 4th 2024 from a boating accident in Crystal River, FL. Captain Michael Fletcher was not only an outstanding firefighter but an even better person. Captain Fletcher was always staying extra hours helping struggling students at Citrus County Fire Rescue Training academy. He never gave up on anybody in his classes and always showed an outstanding work ethic that younger Firemen like myself looked up to.

A small personal story that I have with Captain Michael Fletcher is that when my fiancé Aly and I became foster parents. This was a difficult transition in our lives, and he was the first person to call us seeing if there was anything he could to do to help and shared his experiencing being a foster parent himself. Captain Fletcher was the definition of someone who would give his own shirt off his back for someone else.

After speaking with the family, and at their request - all proceeds of this fundraiser will be donated to assist and offset the cost of future firefighters attending firefighter standards. Thank you everyone for your support.