Just another week of big events in our house. 😛 The biggest event was Wednesday night. I had mentioned my husband and his 20th anniversary at his job back in October, but you may have missed the note I added to the original post. Just a few days after his 20th anniversary, he called me on his way into work. The conversation went something like this:
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m probably going to be on the news tonight.”
“Um, for what?”
“Oh, well, the other day, my partner and I pulled a guy from a burning car right before it burst into flames.”
“You did WHAT!?”
Please note that, while my husband is actually an employee of the fire department, he is not a firefighter. He is a paramedic. Paramedics are not supposed to be extricating crash victims from burning vehicles. They have neither the tools nor the appropriate gear to do something like this. When I expressed my displeasure her at him putting his life in jeopardy, he told me that the fire truck had not yet arrived on the scene and they knew they didn’t have time to wait for it. And it turns out they were right.
I have often said that my husband is my hero, but he was someone else’s hero that day. Although I was actually pretty upset that he took such a risk, because of course, I don’t want there to ever be a day when he doesn’t come home from work, he forwarded me a message a couple of days later that definitely put things in perspective:
That young lady’s message really helped drive home the fact that his heroic actions really made a difference in someone else’s life.
Although he does a lot of great things at his job every day, and most of them go unnoticed, this particular event was witnessed by a supervisor, who happened to pull up on the scene right as Jay and his partner were carrying the patient away from the car, and it exploded into flames behind them. That supervisor told the higher ups at the department, and that’s how he ended up getting on the news. The link to the segment can be found here.
In addition to the news segment, my husband and his partner were also recommended for the prestigious City of Detroit Medal of Valor. That’s an award given to members of the police and fire departments for work above and beyond the call of duty. And I would definitely say what they did was “above and beyond!”
And, not ironically, that’s actually the name of the awards ceremony, which was held Wednesday night. It’s part award ceremony, part fundraiser for the public safety foundation, but although there is certainly a fundraising aspect to it, it was a wonderful event. Jason was decked out in his full dress uniform, and he marched in with the other first responder awardees.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner (fancy enough that JJ was overwhelmed by all the silverware, ha ha!) and then they presented the award. Although they were only able to read the full story for a few of the awardees, they did recognize him and his partner for pulling a victim from a burning car, and the entire story was written up in the program book. The stories I read and heard were so humbling and inspiring, but none were so moving as were the stories of two different police officers were posthumously given the Purple Heart. As I watched their wives accept the medals on behalf of their husbands, both of whom died in the line of duty, it reminded me that the men and women in blue put their lives on the line every day, and that we should never forget OR take it for granted.
Here are a few pictures of our family (including my sister in law and father in law, who also attended).
The awardees marched in together and were led by bag pipers.
Our family (minus Jason, who was getting ready to march) at the event.
Jason on stage with his partner (to his right, your left) and other awardees.
Each star represents five years of service!
What a beautiful medal.
Our family cleans up nice, except both my boys need haircuts. :p
My handsome man in uniform…now with extra bling! 😉
Dinner was delicious (as was the free wine, lol!). It was chicken, potatoes, fresh beans, and salad, and the chicken had some sort of tangy soft cheese (goat, maybe), which I just loved. (I don’t think I’ve ever met a cheese I haven’t liked, lol!) I didn’t get a close-up of dessert (I was too busy eating it!), but you can see the pieces of cheesecake on the table in the group dinner pic. They actually had them out at the beginning of the meal; it was hard not to dive into mine as soon as I sat down! 😉
I was glad I managed to get a 30-minute run in that morning (despite over-sleeping), because although the dinner itself was very healthy and low in calories AND carbs, that cheesecake pretty much put me over the top. 😛 But who cares, it was good, and on a night as special as that, I think it’s perfectly ok to splurge a little.
All in all, it was an amazing night. As you can tell, I am very, very proud of my husband, and I’m so glad we were able to celebrate what an incredible person he is. <3
Thanks for reading!
Wow! That is a great story and congrats to your husband. That message he received really put it in perspective.
So happy to read that your husband and his partner were recognized for their outstanding service in a time of need! It was so nice that the young man’s sister actually took the time and made the effort to thank your husband for his action that day and let him and his partner know how much this meant to her and her family!!! Thank you for sharing this with us.
That award was well deserved. I would say congratulations but that’s not quite the right term…maybe “Well done” to a GOOD man is more appropriate. (And I’m so glad he and his partner weren’t hurt!)
Well done and completely deserved! I’m so grateful we have people like him still in this world willing to help. I know it’s his job but still. It’s definitely a life changing event for that young man and I know you are all so proud of your hubby! Kudos to him!