Community Rallies Around Volunteer Firefighter Who Had Double Leg Amputation

A volunteer firefighter received a big “welcome home” after being injured on the job.

Joe Tadijanac lost both of his legs after being pinned between two fire trucks. He works with the Washington Township Fire Department.

“That he really is coming home, after what we went through, that is amazing,” said Tadijanac’s mother, Barbara.

Barbara Tadijanac said that the community’s support helped her family get through the past five weeks.

“We thought in another week, maybe, but he did so great in his physical therapy,” Barbara Tadijanac said. “He passed all the tests and whatnot. He wanted to sleep in his own bed, that is my goal, he said.”

Joe Tadijanac was escorted by central Ohio fire trucks on his way home Friday.

His fiancée, Andrea Weaver, said that he never lost spirit.

“It’s been overwhelming from the beginning,” Weaver said. “When this first happened, it was overwhelming in a bad way. And as strong as he has stayed and how positive he is, it’s just overwhelming now in a really good way.”

Joe said that he worked extra hard in rehabilitation to make it home on Friday for his son Zach’s birthday.

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