Firefighter Kyle Frable has a new quilt to keep him warm - and it is comprised of T-shirts from not only those fire companies in the West End, but from other parts of this state, New Jersey and New York.

“I thought it would be a good idea and it would mean a lot to Kyle because it is something personal,” said Mindy Miller, member of Kunkletown Volunteer Fire Company for 15 years and his neighbor.

Miller said she had one done recently for her husband, Ray, and loved how it turned out.

The Millers wanted to show Frable that he is appreciated, and they care about him.

Frable was injured Christmas Eve 2022 during a house fire he responded to as a Kunkletown volunteer firefighter. He was injured by a hose kickback, broke his pelvis in three areas with some internal bleeding. One of the blood clots in his pelvis moved into his lungs.

His brain was injured and he is currently paralyzed from the waist down. He was hospitalized, then spent months in rehabilitation and came back home to Kunkletown in fall 2023.

The Millers asked Kunkletown fire chief Brian Stankovich to post the request for T-shirts on social media. They collected shirts for a few months.

“My intent was to get all of Monroe County. We got close to 50 shirts, including some from New York and New Jersey,” Miller said.

They received shirts from Polk Township, Jackson Township, Mount Bethel, Long Pond, Nazareth, South Bronyx, Ocean City, Meadowlands and other fire departments. The quilt also contains Kunkletown’s shirts.

She asked her friend, Karen Whisel, to quilt it together. She used the back of the T-shirts for the inside of the quilt and the left chest patches on the corners of the quilt. There is black and red checkered fabric in between each shirt.

The Millers, Stankovich, and a couple other fire department members presented Frable with the quilt last weekend.

“The quilt was a beautiful gift. I think Kyle was surprised and honored that so many fire companies participated in providing a T-shirt,” said Karena Thek, Kyle’s older sister.