FINDING PADDY is the stirring and emotional 80-minute, MSNBC documentary "tribute" to Captain Patrick "Paddy" Brown, the New York Fire Department’s most decorated firefighter, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Filmmaker Steve McCarthy looks at Paddy’s incredible life through the eyes of the many people who were fortunate enough to consider him a friend: firefighters, neighbors, girlfriends, family…and all of the people whose lives were touched in some small way by Paddy. One of the many quotes to describe the character of Paddy Brown was best expressed by a retired FDNY member who said, “Paddy had a chestful of medals, and he wore them with a modest heart.”

Paddy grew up in New York and lived a tough and unapologetic life. An alcoholic home, abuse by priests, a traumatic Vietnam tour of duty, a string of lovers - and yet he emerged as a classic hero...one profoundly flawed but driven to acts of bravery and redemption by motives sculpted by his emotional past.

In 24 years of service to the FDNY, Patrick blended his extensive knowledge of firefighting with creativity, innovation, bravery and quick-thinking to perform spectacular and highly publicized rescues. For many of these he received FDNY medals. For his much publicized “rope rescue,” which took place in May of 1991, Paddy received a letter of recognition from President George Bush. It always seemed that he was in the right place at the right time, whether he was on or off duty (it was once said that when Pat walked down a street fire would break out spontaneously and young women would appear at their windows crying out to be saved). Monetary rewards received along with these medals were always quietly donated by Paddy to the Burn Unit at Cornell University Medical Center.

On September 11, 2001, Patrick and eleven men from Ladder 3 responded to the attacks at the World Trade Center. Along with so many other rescue workers, these firefighters, at their own peril, managed to safely evacuate over 25,000 people from those burning towers. It is said that Paddy and his men were on the 40th floor of the North Tower with 30 or 40 severely burned people when that tower fell.

Paddy’s remains were recovered from the rubble of the North Tower on December 14, 2001. On a cold, clear night two weeks later, according to Paddy’s wishes, his ashes were spread by his family and friends in Central Park along a path where he loved to jog. Paddy’s body was put to rest but his spirit and influence lives on in the hearts and memories of all who knew him.