FDNY firefighter from Islip among 3 Bravest to earn Medal of Valor

An FDNY firefighter from Islip is among three of New York's Bravest who will be honored by President Joe Biden in a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday.

The firefighters, including a former Deer Park resident, will receive the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest honor for public safety officers who have exhibited exceptional courage to protect others from danger.

During a virtual event Tuesday organized by the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Justin Hespeler, an Islip resident, and the two other city firefighters discussed the acts of heroism that led them to a meeting with the president.

On Nov. 20, 2021, Hespeler and the rest of Ladder Company 174 responded to a blaze in a building in Brooklyn. Hespeler recalled encountering people who had just jumped from a second-floor window yelling that a baby was still in his crib in a second-floor bedroom.

Hespeler climbed a ladder to the second floor, searching for the infant while ignoring a radio transmission directing all members to evacuate the area, officials said. He found and removed the unconscious child, saving his life.

"In a scenario like that, every second is precious," Hespeler said. " … I'm grateful I was able to find the baby before it was too late."

On Sept. 13, 2021, the FDNY's Marine Training Unit was on the East River when they received an urgent call for a person in the water. 

Lt. Jason Hickey, formerly of Deer Park and now a Rockland County resident, spotted the victim struggling to keep his head above water as he was swept south along Harlem River Drive and eventually into a stormwater drainage tunnel.

Hickey jumped into the water and swam toward the tunnel — a tight enclosed space with overhead obstructions, limited visibility and violently surging currents — as his colleague, Lt. Chris Tucker, maneuvered the vessel toward the victim, officials said.

"I was able to locate the victim and extricate him from the tunnel," Hickey said. 

The panicked victim twice broke free from Hickey's grasp and became submerged in the water, including under an NYPD vessel that had come to help. Both times, Hickey rescued the man, eventually pulling him to safety on his boat. 

A third firefighter, Patrick Thornton, will be recognized for his efforts on June 5, 2021, in Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island. Thornton saved a passenger on a vessel that had sunk and rolled over, trapping the person underneath

Lt. James McCarthy of the UFOA said the White House honor is a "tribute to the training and experience and amount of time that these members put in to be proficient and experts at their tasks and … saving somebody's life because of that."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.