Community rallies behind family of deceased Hampden County Sheriff’s Deputy

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - A son’s heroic fight to save his father’s life while hunting in Alaska has sparked an outpouring of community support for a former Hampden County Sheriff’s deputy.

On October 1st, 67-year-old John Deluca was hunting in Alaska with his son when he slipped, falling 200 feet down a mountain.

Deluca’s son, Dave, tried to help his father but during the process he also ended up tumbling down the mountain. Despite being seriously injured himself, Dave called 911 and performed CPR for 3 hours, until the rescue helicopter came.

While Dave Survived the fall, his father was pronounced dead at the hospital. Deluca served as a Deputy Sheriff with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office for 39 years. In addition to his work at the Sheriff’s Office, his family told us Deluca was also a karate instructor for 40 years, a firearms instructor, an outdoorsman, and an entrepreneur.

Following this recent tragedy, a GoFundMe has been started, supporting memorial expenses for John and medical expenses for Dave. The fundraiser, receiving over a hundred thousand dollars in donations so far.

On Friday, Western Mass News spoke with Deluca’s eldest son and Dave’s older brother. He told us it’s both touching and emotional, seeing the community rally behind his family during this dark time, “the just outpouring of love and support that we’ve felt has been pretty incredible and I cannot like emphasize enough how appreciative we are and continue to be for all of this. We feel very loved and very grateful so.”

If you’re interested in contributing to the GoFundMe page, a link can be found here.