Son Lifted By Fire Truck Says Goodbye To Dying Bridgewater Mom

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Scott Wolf's 94-year-old mother was dying. Unable to go inside the Laurel Circle Retirement Community in Bridgewater to say goodbye to his mother, Wolf says Sarah Petty came to the rescue.

Petty, the admissions coordinator at the community, is being called a "hero" for her uplifting efforts to arrange for a fire truck to lift Wolf to the second floor to be able to see and say goodbye to his mother one final time.

Jean Wolf, a former 4th grade teacher, moved to the formerly named Arbor Glen in Bridgewater in 1998. She became sick in April. Petty said, at the time, the retirement community was not accepting visitors except for those with residents who were dying due to the coronavirus.

Wolf said he was unable to go inside the community, at 100 Monroe St., because his wife was going through chemo and was high risk.

"We felt for him, if his wife wasn't sick he would've come inside," Petty said. "It must've been a hard decision to choose between your wife and mom."

However, Petty was determined to find a solution. She started thinking of getting an extension ladder or building a platform for Wolf to be able to say goodbye from the outside.

"I was trying to think outside the box to get this guy onto the second floor to say goodbye," Petty said.

Then a family member mentioned they had connections with the Finderne Fire Department and a fire truck could lift Wolf up to the second story.

"I was shocked," Wolf said when he found out Petty had set up the fire truck.

Finderne Fire Department came out and strapped Wolf into a bucket and raised him to his mother's second-story window. Petty opened the windows in Jean's room and was able to move her bed against the window.

"That was an experience. I have never done anything like that before. It was pretty amazing," Wolf said.

Petty said it was a very emotional day for everyone including the staff and there were a lot of tears.

Jean Wolf died the following day on April 29.

"I was so glad I was able to see her. I don't know how to describe it," Wolf said. "I am just so glad I was able to have one last visit with her."

Finderne Fire Chief Tom Marshall said he was happy the department was able to figure out a "coronavirus-friendly way to help."

"This just goes to show you that all local emergency services are here for more outside of the box things than just responding to emergencies," Marshall said. "There are multiple different ways we are helping the community when we are not responding to true 911 calls."

Petty was nominated as Patch's hero for her actions amid the coronavirus. Wolf completely agrees with the nomination saying she "certainly deserves it."

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