By Bridget Mire
The Houma Courier
SOUTH LAFOURCHE, La. — South Lafourche firefighters have demonstrated the sense of family in the fire service as one of their own recovers from a crash that left him seriously injured.
Lafourche Parish Fire District 3 was called out the night of Dec. 27 to a crash on La. 308 where a vehicle had gone in the water. The driver was still in the vehicle when rescuers arrived, but he eventually got out and refused medical treatment.
Minutes later, the department got a report of another crash on La. 3235 where a vehicle had flipped and the driver was ejected. Responders were shocked to see it was a volunteer firefighter on his way to the first crash.
“Then the training kicked in and we just did the job we had to do,” said Battalion Chief Devin Dedon.
Lafourche Ambulance District 1 transported the injured firefighter to Thibodaux Regional Medical Center and then Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. He suffered fractures in his neck and back and an arm injury but returned home New Year’s Eve.
The nonprofit Lafourche Parish Fire District 3 Firefighters Association donated wood and helped the man’s family build a wheelchair ramp for him.
“To know that he was willing to put down what he was doing to go help someone else, it feels good to give back,” Dedon said.
Training Officer Jordan Collins agreed that it’s nice to pay back someone who does the job for free.
Collins indicated that the injured firefighter, who asked that his name not be used to avoid attention, would not want to be interviewed.
The man’s mother said she’s been caring for him since he returned home. She said she knew the crash was serious when she found out her son was being transported to Thibodaux Regional, but she felt a little better when she got to see him.
“He walks around to exercise. You can’t just lay there,” she said. “But for the most part, he stays in bed. ... He’s in pain, but hopefully when he goes back to the doctor, things will be better. It’s going to be a rough road, but he’s young. He’ll be fine, hopefully. It’s just going to take time to heal.”
She said her son, who is now 30, joined the department as a junior firefighter.
“We’re so blessed to have them,” she said. “These guys are such a good group. ... It’s such an honor to have that kind of people working for us because they go out of their way, whether they have to or not. I can’t thank them enough. Some of these guys I don’t even know, and they were there working. There was a whole bunch that came to the hospital to see him.”
Assistant Fire Chief Kully Griffin described the injured firefighter as a classy, hardworking man. Other department members have been keeping in touch with him.
“We always refer to ourselves as a brotherhood, and this is just an example of that,” Griffin said. “We take care of the public, our community, but we also take care of our own.”