All first responders know and work with people who over the years have done noteworthy deeds, but due to the nature of our business, those actions mostly go unknown by the public. These folks are everyday unsung heroes. Anyone who is a cop, firefighter, EMT or has served in the military is likely picturing in their head right now, someone they know who fits into this category.
I am proud to say I know several folks who fit this bill, and just yesterday, several folks once again did something that puts them into that elite group. One of them is a man I went to the academy with, a man I am proud to call a friend, whom I will just call Dave here (don’t ask for his last name, I can’t share it). Several other officers were involved as well, and all deserve recognition, but sadly I do not have their names.
What happened you ask? Let me splain… No, there is too much, let me sum up.
A woman got shot and was on the street bleeding out. The first responding officers, Hero 1 – Hero 4, started to attend to her when the suspect began firing at them. They dragged the victim through some bushes to gain some concealment, but where they were located, they could not get her to cover. Dave, hearing and seeing this, drives into the hot fire zone to the officers and victim. They load her into Dave’s rig and he drives them out to a safe location.
Once at a safe location, well out of the line of fire, they request code 3 fire so the victim can begin getting treated for her injuries. It is not known yet what happened at this point, but for some reason, minutes passed and fire was not showing up. They could see the victim was starting to fade, so Dave jumped back in the driver seat and drove them all to the emergency room at the hospital that was located about a mile away.
The victim was initially critical but the ER folks got her stabilized, no officers or other folks were injured, and the suspect was arrested. While some parts of this incident may make it onto the local news, it is not likely the heroic actions of those officers would have ever been known outside our “family”, which is why I am sharing it here.
We don’t do this job for recognition, but there are just some times when some people deserve it.
Those officers are Big Damn Heroes in my book!