Marcus Waugh has seen a lot in the seven years he’s been with the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department.
“I’ve been on runs with children overdosing,” he said. “I’ve been on calls where there’s been death, there’s been shootings.”
After the Toledo firefighter won the 2024 World’s Strongest Firefighter competition at the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, he had a conversation with veterans and fellow first responders about how their mental health was “drained” as a result of what they’ve seen on their shifts and from their service.
“The whole tradition has been, you don’t talk about it,” Mr. Waugh said. “You stuff that stuff down, and it ends up coming back in hurtful ways.”
The local strongman and longtime first responder started WaughStrong, an organization that provides mental health services through training and competitions.
The idea is to offer veterans and first responders a positive outlet and provide a space for them to “sit down and kind of talk out things that are eating at us,” he said.
The organization hosted its first competition in the form of the 2024 WaughStrong Benefit Competition and is set to host a strongman competition during the Glass City Crawlers Block Party, which will kick off the Toledo Jeep Fest on Aug. 1.
“I figured what better way to give a strong and positive outlet for some of that mental anguish that we go through and the mental health struggles that we have than through a strongman competition where we can bring awareness to it, an outlet to it, and also raise money for services in our area,” Mr. Waugh said.
Though WaughStrong is still in the process of getting its 501(c)(3) nonprofit certification, it’s currently partnering with Veteran Career Journey, a nonprofit organization that helps veterans transition into civilian life, to host competitions and other events.
Many people don’t understand the mental toll that being a first responder takes on their mental health, said Toledo Fire Deputy Chief Daniel Brown-Martinez.
It can even be hard for a responder’s family to truly understand, he said.
“Every day, people typically call us on their worst day, and that’s our every day,” Chief Brown-Martinez said. “You’ve still got to take the kids to Cedar Point. You still have to perform so that your spouse feels valued and appreciated, but you could have just seen the most horrific thing that human nature can experience. It really just tears you apart.”
Mr. Waugh personally knows the effect being a first responder can have on someone’s mental health.
Before joining the Toledo department, he was a corrections officer for the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office for five years.
He had to keep himself in the moment when a shift got intense, Mr. Waugh said.
“You don’t really think about it because you’re doing your job and you’re trying to save a life, but afterwards and in the days after, you start to feel that,” he said.
During his seven years with the fire department, Mr. Waugh has grown to appreciate just how important it is to talk about some of the things he’s seen on duty.
On top of therapy, he said he feels blessed to have the support of his wife, Stephanie, who’s also a firefighter and co-founder of WaughStrong.
The combination of therapy, his wife, his friends, and the weight room has helped Mr. Waugh feel comfortable with sharing his experiences as a firefighter with other people.
“It’s been crazy to see how many people have shared experiences with that,” he said of being a first responder. “We’re able to talk and to get things off our chest because if you leave it bottled up for too long, something’s going to happen.”
Despite the culture in the first responder community to “not talk about it,” Mrs. Waugh said she believes the community is trying to “push that culture out.”
She said sometimes first responders don’t talk about what they’re going through because they care what people think.
“We want to let them know it doesn’t matter what others think. What matters is that you’re OK,” she said. “It’s important to have a community around you. It takes a village to take care of everybody, and we’re trying to build that community of mental health being at the forefront.”
Chief Brown-Martinez said the fire department is working to make sure it provides mental health support for firefighters and paramedics.
“We’re working internally through wellness and support programs, peer support, [and] critical incident stress management teams,” Chief Brown-Martinez said. “We’re really trying to expand upon those services. We do outsource to places like Karuna House and Lighthouse [Counseling Services] for higher levels of counseling and debriefing. We also respond as a community. Some of the smaller departments don’t have the resources we do, so we help support them as well.”
Phil Moline, vice president of Toledo Firefighters Local 92, said the work done by Mr. and Mrs. Waugh shows dedication to their fellow brothers and sisters in the first-responder community.
“Toledo Firefighters Local 92 is extremely proud of the work our members do in the community and beyond,” Mr. Moline said. “Firefighter and veteran mental health is an often overlooked aspect of our occupational risks. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation estimates around 100 firefighters take their own lives every year, and the U.S. sadly loses an estimated 22 veterans a day to suicide.”
“The end goal of it is for people to find help somewhere,” Mr. Waugh said of the nonprofit. “If it’s not with us, then maybe just being around it and seeing it can make them want to reach out to some sort of mental health service in the area as well.”
First Published March 23, 2025, 1:26 p.m.
