After 22 years on the force, retired Bronx NYPD officer Brian Maley lost his battle with the coronavirus. Now, his family is honoring his legacy. 

Maley passed away just after Valentine’s Day. 

“The whole time we thought he was going to make it, but he didn’t,” said Anna Maley, Brian’s wife. 

He also suffered from COPD, which is a lung disease found in many first responders fat Ground Zero on Sept. 11. His family believes his condition is what made him more vulnerable and ultimately led to his death from the coronavirus. 

“You don’t think it can happen to you until it does,” said Gaetano Dinardi, Brian’s stepson. 

Anna Maley says when he met Brian, he immediately embraced her family.

“When he met me, I had four small children and he stepped up to the plate and became their dad,” said Anna Maley. 

Dinardi says what will be remembered the most is the way he loved his mother. 

“The way he loved my mom. The way he loved my mom,” said Dinardi.