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Firefighter Honored for Saving Life Story by Ex-Captain & Hon. Chief Steve Grogan |
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Phil Tkacz, an
Ex-Captain and member of Lynbrook’s Rescue, Hook, Ladder and Bucket
Company No. 1 of the Lynbrook Fire Department, has been honored by the
Town of Hempstead for his life-saving efforts of a motorist at an
accident scene in March.
The presentation was
made to Tkacz by Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin and took place
at Town Hall on October 2nd.
His fellow firefighters were in
attendance at the ceremony. According to the award
presentation, Tkacz was on his way home on the afternoon of March 23,
2022, and driving on the Van Wyck Expressway when he came upon an
accident that had just occurred.
A driver had plowed into the center
guard rail.
Tkacz stopped and ran up to the scene.
The driver’s door was smashed against the guard rail and the passenger
door was locked.
The male driver was unconscious and
slumped over the wheel.
Tkacz then looked for something to
break the window.
Another passerby found a rock and
broke the window.
Tkacz broke through the rest of the
glass and opened the door.
He then pulled the driver out of the
vehicle.
While he was doing this he was joined
by an off-duty police officer.
The two laid the driver down on the
ground.
After determining the driver had no
pulse Tkacz and the officer administer multiple rounds of CPR in the
middle of the busy highway prior to the arrive of EMS.
When EMS finally arrived, Tkacz
advised them that an AED was quickly needed as they continued to work on
the driver.
The AED was used twice to shock the
driver and finally they got a pulse.
EMS then transported the man to the
hospital where he gained consciousness and was eventually discharged
from the hospital.
“It is believed that
if Ex-Captain Tkacz had not acted in the manner that he did, a life
would have been lost,” said Lynbrook Fire Chief Chris Kelly.
“Ex-Captain Phil
Tkacz, as he does everyday in Lynbrook, went to the aid of a person
needing help and helped save that man’s life.”
Lynbrook Fire Department Ex-Captain Phil Tkacz is presented his
Town of Hempstead Living Saving Award by Town Supervisor Don Clavin, as,
from left to right, Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll, Town Councilman
Anthony D’Esposito, Lynbrook Mayor Alan Beach, and Town Clerk Kate
Murray, join in.
(Photo by Dan Neri)
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