By Susannah Nesmith
Miami Herald
MIAMI — A decorated former Miami police officer who was badly burned in a drunk-driving accident and then spent years fighting with the city and the police union over who should cover his hospital bills died Monday of heart failure, police said.
Darryl Smith was 57.
Smith had never missed a day of work before the fiery crash in 2004 left his legs badly burned. The early morning crash on South Dixie Highway in Coral Gables was made worse by the fact that the first fire truck to arrive, a Coral Gables engine, didn’t have any water to douse the flames.
Dozens of cops from Miami and Coral Gables rushed to the scene and battled the flames with hand-held fire extinguishers, even using a plastic rain coat to try to shield Smith’s face and body from the fire.
Their efforts held back the fire for the time it took a city of Miami fire crew to rush to the area and douse the fire.
But Smith, known as Smitty to his colleagues, was never the same.
The popular officer returned to work after months of surgeries and rehabilitation. He said his faith in God helped him overcome the painful ordeal.
Smith even went to court to ask a judge to be merciful to the teenager who caused the crash, saying that he had forgiven her.
But complications from diabetes later sidelined the officer, who specialized in traffic homicide investigations. The police union’s health trust argued the accident caused Smith’s diabetes to flare up and refused to cover his medical bills. City officials said the diabetes was a preexisting condition not covered by worker’s compensation insurance.
Smith’s doctors said his diabetes, which he had successfully controlled with medication for years, became unmanageable only after he was bedridden in the Jackson Memorial Hospital burn unit.
The two sides worked out a deal after stories in The Miami Herald exposed the bureaucratic squabble that had left Smith rationing his medicine and fearful he would lose his home. Smith struggled to continue working, even after his kidneys failed, forcing him into dialysis. He scheduled the treatments around work and the department put him on desk duty.
Meanwhile officers and community members raised money to fix up his home and help with the bills.
All the while, Smith worried about the people around him: his wife, who was struggling with the family finances, and the girl who hit him and was herself badly injured.
His family is finalizing the arrangements.
Copyright 2009 Miami Herald