Firefighter of the year.Thomas Feaser, a 24-year FDNY FDNY Fire Department New York (New York City, NY, USA) FDNY Fort Drum, New York (US Army) veteran, is a member of Ladder Co. 78/Engine Co. 155 in Staten Island, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . One day last December, the station received a call from police officers that a person had fallen into the Kill van Kull Kill Van Kull (kĭl văn kŭl), channel, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and .5 mi (.8 km) wide, connecting Upper New York Bay with Newark Bay, between Bayonne, N.J., and Staten Island, N.Y. , a tidal strait separating Staten Island from Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, south of Jersey City. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 61,842. According to tradition, the city derives its name from the city of Bayonne in France. . When Feaser reached a pier at the scene, he saw a woman floating facedown in the water, her winter clothes saturated. He realized that the strong current in the channel would soon carry her beyond his reach and that he must act immediately. Without waiting for a safety line, Feaser jumped seven feet from the pier into the cold water and swam against a four-knot current and powerful winds to reach the woman. "She was moving out with the tide," Feaser told the Staten Island Advance The Staten Island Advance is a daily newspaper published in the borough of Staten Island in New York City. It is the only daily newspaper published in the borough and the largest by circulation, covering news of local and community interest in the borough, including borough newspaper. "If I didn't move, we wouldn't have been able to get to her." After towing the unconscious woman back to the pier, Feaser began artificial respiration artificial respiration, any measure that causes air to flow in and out of a person's lungs when natural breathing is inadequate or ceases, as in respiratory paralysis, drowning, electric shock, choking, gas or smoke inhalation, or poisoning. . Within minutes, the woman's breathing resumed, and she recovered completely. "I'm glad she made it. The way she looked when I dragged her out, I honestly didn't think she was going to pull through," Feaser told the paper. Though it was his third water rescue, Feaser displayed typical hero's modesty in sharing credit with his colleagues in the department: "My guys helped me get her out of the water, and once we were on land, the EMS people did a great job in bringing her back. It wasn't just me." For his heroic response, firefighter Feaser was recognized as Firefighter of the Year during a July 18 luncheon. |
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