UF baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan will miss tonight's game at Stetson due to the death of his cousin Danny Foley, a New York City firefighter. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Events of 9/11 Continue to Hit O'Sullivan and Family Hard
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | Baseball, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kevin O'Sullivan was a young assistant coach at Clemson the day it happened. As soon as he was able, O'Sullivan traveled to New York to assist his family of NYC firefighters with whatever they needed as they worked 20-hour days at Ground Zero.
He didn't need to be asked.
"I come from a prototypical Irish-Catholic fireman family,'' he said. "We're all brothers. I don't know how else to put it."
Nearly 19 years later, the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, supplied another harsh reminder to O'Sullivan and his family of the dreadful toll from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. O'Sullivan's cousin, Daniel R. Foley, died on Saturday at the age of 46 after suffering from 9/11-related pancreatic cancer, according to his obituary.
O'Sullivan will miss the No. 1-ranked Gators' game tonight at Stetson to attend Foley's memorial service Thursday in New Rochelle, N.Y. He plans to return in time for the start of a three-game series against Troy on Friday.
Danny Foley and O'Sullivan had a special bond that had grown over the years since 9/11.
"He loved the Gator baseball thing. He was totally invested,'' O'Sullivan said this week. "He watched all the games. Even Friday night, the night before he passed, [my cousin] Joanne said he was asking about the game. We're down to our last strike on Saturday and we end up winning the game. I know for sure he had something to do with that. There's no question." Daniel R. "Danny" Foley, upper left, a cousin of Gators head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, visited O'Sullivan recently while battling pancreatic cancer. (Photo: Courtesy of Kevin O'Sullivan)
Danny Foley's death made national news. He and his wife Carrie were at the White House in July 2019 when President Donald Trump signed the bill extending aid to those who became ill after the rescue and recovery efforts at the sites of the terror attacks. As of December 2019, the death toll from 9/11-related illnesses was at 2,691, according to the World Trade Center Health Program.
The New York Fire Department lost 343 members during the attacks, and more than 215 firefighters have reportedly died of 9/11-related illnesses since.
Danny's story can't be told without including the loss of his brother, Thomas J. Foley, on the day of the attacks. A member of the FDNY, Tommy Foley died on 9/11 as a first responder with Rescue Company 3 of the Bronx.
Tommy's death left a void for O'Sullivan and Danny.
"He and I were tight. We had a lot of fun together,'' O'Sullivan said. "When we lost Tommy, me and Danny got really close. It's not an easy deal."
In the days after the attack on the World Trade Center, Danny Foley searched tirelessly in the rubble for victims and his brother. Eventually, Danny discovered Tommy's remains. O'Sullivan said they were able to identify Tommy's body by a metal rod he had inserted into his knee during a previous surgery.
Danny Foley joined the FDNY in 1998 and leaves behind a wife and five kids. O'Sullivan said Danny and his family often traveled to Gainesville to attend baseball games and that his daughters have participated in UF softball camps.
Those in New York recall a determined firefighter who served the community and his family, especially in the wake of 9/11.
"On the first night, Danny promised his mother and father he wouldn't come home until he bought his brother home with him," Lieutenant Mickey Conboy of Rescue Co. 3 told CBS New York this week. "On the 11th day, Danny miraculously found his brother Tommy in the rubble at the World Trade Center."
Danny Foley made a trip to Florida in recent months with his young son Thomas, who goes by "T.J." and is named after Tommy. O'Sullivan's son Finn is around the same age and baseball was never far from the conversation when the families visited.
O'Sullivan described Danny as a man's man, funny, smart, someone with strong convictions and a person who "would light up the room."
He's going to miss him the same way he misses Tommy.
"I think the hard thing is with 9/11, it hasn't gone away,'' O'Sullivan said. "The first responders, a lot of those people have gotten different types of cancers because of what happened on 9/11.
"We've been affected deeply by it."
In lieu of flowers, the Foley family is asking loved ones to donate to Gilda's Club White Plains, www.gildasclubwestchester.org, who helped provide care for Foley's five children; or to the FF Thomas J. Foley Foundation, to continue the education of the events relating to 9/11, including those affected currently and in the future.
