He was on his way to becoming everything he always feared becoming. At the age of 18, with a daughter on the way, he went to jail. In his words, he did a lot of drugs and lot of partying.

McDonough grew up without a father figure. Those children and their families received important assistance from United Way agencies. McDonough said his life was similar to the children shown in a video at the beginning of the campaign luncheon. Nineteen firefighters, all fellow members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, died in the Yarnell Hill tragedy. McDonough told his life story and talked about his brothers who all lost their life fighting a fire about ten years ago.īrendan McDonough, who lives in Prescott, Arizona, was the only firefighter who survived a 2013 fire near Yarnell, Arizona. Make A Difference: Ex-firefighter tells how United Way changed his lifeīrendan McDonough, the lone survivor of the Granite Mountains Hot Shots Crew, was the featured speaker at Thursdays United Way Kick-off at Riverside Golf Club.

Only the brave cast granite mountain