On Nov. 15, 1963, Chicago firefighter Eddie Groya pulled a 5-year-old to safety from a furious blaze in an apartment building at 547 W. Melrose. The little boy, Ricardo Vega, was a refugee from Cuba whose family had fled the Castro regime with only the clothes on their backs.
He never forgot the powerful hands that grabbed him and his grandfather from the smoke and flames and carried them down the stairs to safety. This Wednesday, he will be the honor guard who stands next to Eddie Groya’s casket.
Because that little boy grew up to be Chicago Fire Lt. Rick Vega, who found a career, a calling and a surrogate family in the Fire Department.
By coincidence, he wound up serving in the very same firehouse as his hero.
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