VIGO COUNTY (WTWO/WAWV) — An 11-year-old boy from Winter Springs, Fla. honored fallen Terre Haute firefighter John Schoffstall on Tuesday night.
In a Facebook live post, Zechariah Cartledge ran one mile in memory of Schoffstall who passed away from complications with COVID-19 on Easter.
“All of the angels that I have ran for, are here running in spirit with me…it inspires me more to think about that during the run,” Zechariah said.
Zechariah started the non-profit organization “Running 4 Heroes” in July, 2019. He runs a mile in memory for every fallen first responder who has died in the line of duty.
“Every single time one passes away from COVID-19, just like this fallen firefighter, I want to keep those on the priority right now,” Zechariah said.”What they did in these last few weeks, even though how stressful it was, the fact that they still went outside to protect the community they served, shows complete dedication.”
Zechariah’s father, Chad Cartledge, is proud of his son’s accomplishments.
“We’re just proud and so honored to say that’s our son and the fact that he just has such commitment to do this is pretty awesome,” Chad said. ” There have been some agencies that have said that his run was the only memorial that they were even able to really have because of the strict social distancing laws.”
After each run, Zechariah sends the flag he carried to the department or a family member to help commemorate their life.