Family, Officers Thank Hospital That Tried To Save The Life Of Highway Patrolman Who Died In Motorcycle Crash

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - Wednesday was an emotional day for the family of an NYPD officer who was killed in a motorcycle accident three months ago.

His family and fellow officers wanted to thank the hospital staff that did all they could to save him.

Officer Marc St. Arromand was 42, and had served with the NYPD for 14 years, most recently with the Highway Patrol. But in April, on his way to work on his motorcycle when he lost control on the Belt Parkway and hit a guardrail.

He was rushed to Northwell Health Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, where his wife Cecilia followed through with his wish to donate his organs.

"If I can't physically have him here I want him here in some way or another, and I figured the best way for that to be was organ donation," said his widow Cecilia Jackson-St. Arromand.

Officer St. Arromand helped up to 50 people with his donations. He leaves behind 5 children ages one to 11 years old, and they all understood he did everything for them.

Sa'niyah is the oldest.

"Whenever the police or his brothers asked why he worked so many shifts? He said because it was for my family," she told CBS2's Cindy Hsu.

His fellow officers have set up a GoFundMe account to help the family, and are now the uncles in blue to the kids.

"We all wear blue, we're all family," said Det. Clive Thomas of the NYPD Highway Patrol.

"Great guy, great friend, great partner," said Officer Ralph Gaston. "And I will always keep his memory alive."

The officers and the family wanted to thank the hospital staff for all they did to try to save St. Arromand.

"We were here for almost 14 hours, the amount of love and support that we received from them was really overwhelming," said Capt. Daniel Shouldis.

It's the first time Cecilia and the family have been back to the hospital. The last few months have been heartbreaking.

"The silence kills me everyday because that's all I want - to see is his smile again, that's it," Cecilia said.

His fellow officers are also grieving, and showed their love lining the route to his funeral. All the children got a turn with dad on his motorcycle, and there's one who may take up the call.

"Do you think there's anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps?" Hsu asked.

"Michael," Cecilia said. "He's like 'Yep, I'm going to be officer St. Arramond.'"

He will have some big shoes to fill.