Thousands Pour In For Waltham Officer In Need Of Heart Surgery

WALTHAM, MA — Anyone who has met Kevin Duffey, a patrolman in the Waltham police department and a sergeant in the Army, will tell you he's got a heart that overflows with compassion.

Not only has he been recognized for saving lives in the city, but the Army reserves sergeant has been credited with turning the tides on an attack at a military base in Afghanistan, making sure all his fellow soldiers were taken care of in battle, and keeping the base from being overrun by suicide bombers in 2010 while he was on tour.

"He's just always there for everybody," said fellow Waltham police officer Philip O'Dowd, who has worked with Duffey for the past 28 years. "I've never heard the guy say a bad word about any body."

So when O'Dowd and fellow officers at Waltham Police Department found out Duffey needed to undergo open-heart surgery, they knew they wanted to help out. At first, O'Dowd passed an envelope around the station.

At the same time his 22-year-old daughter Kelly O'Dowd was in the police academy with a 25-year-old Army buddy of Duffey's, Kevin McNamara. He told her stories about going through training under Duffey when he was just a teen.

"Sometimes the Army can really beat you down, sometimes it feels the army doesn't care," McNamara said. "But Duffey, he cares."

McNamara said Duffey was a father figure and mentor in the Army to hundreds of soldiers.

"He just has this way of him that motivates people," McNamara said. "Duffey being there just helps people out."

McNamara and his Army buddies and Kelley O'Dowd both wanted to help and the two quickly realized there were probably more people in the community who would want to help ease the financial and mental burden of the surgery on Duffey and his family.

The duo realized they needed a bigger envelope.

Kelly O'Dowd had the idea to create a GoFundMe online fundraiser for Duffey with the help of fellow took to the online GoFundMe fundraising platform to share Duffey's story and see if they could raise $15,000.

The response was swift. In less than 24 hours, 148 people donated $12,000.

Kelly O'Dowd said the afternoon after she posted the fundraiser, she was floored when she checked how many people had already donated.

"I wasn't surprised," said Philip O'Dowd. "The guy is just so squared away, such a hard worker. And he's always up beat, always willing to help."

Duffey has been on the police force for the past 34 years. He's spent much of that time as a patrolman.

"Very few people can be a patrol man and take calls for 30 years, cause it takes a toll," said O'Dowd. "Very few can work the street for decades like Kevin has, and still have the compassion to help people on most people's worst day. No one calls police when something good happens. They call police on their very worst day, and to do that day after day and still be compassionate is very difficult and Kevin is one of the few people who can do that."

Duffey's friends and colleagues describe him as "an icon of service, high moral character, and above all, love," his GoFundMe reads.

"Duffey deserves this, he has his whole life looked out for others," Kelly O'Dowd said. "All he does is look out for his family and those around him."

Duffey —who has a wife, a daughter and five stepchildren— went into surgery Monday and is still recovering in the hospital, according to O'Dowd.

O'Dowd said if anyone deserves a little love right now, it's Duffey, who he's hoping will make a swift recovery.

"They just don't make em like Kevin anymore," he said.

For more information about the fundraiser go here.* GoFundMe is a Patch partner.

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.