SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A man who lives in the Hillpoint community is healing after he cut his hand while mowing the lawn Saturday as the kind actions of two Suffolk firefighters who finished the job continue to receive high praise on social media.
The first responders say, though, that it was simply the right thing to do.
The resident said he had no idea who finished the yard work until he saw the firefighters on his Ring camera. The man is back home and awaiting a follow-up appointment in the next couple of weeks. He does expect to make a full recovery.
Around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Engine 6 and Medic 6 of Suffolk Fire Station No. 6 were dispatched for an injury call on Bogie Drive.
“We showed up [to] a gentleman sitting on the front porch [with] an injury,” said Suffolk Fire & Rescue firefighter Patrick Madariaga. “Our medic crew was already assisting him when we got there.”
Paramedics quickly rushed the man to the hospital.
Suffolk firefighters finish cutting man’s grass after he was injured while lawnmowing
Joshua Baker, a senior firefighter, had the idea to take care of the rest of the yard work.
“I remember looking at my lieutenant, I said, ‘Do we have anything going on?’ She said, ‘No, why,” with that kind of weird look. I said, ‘Can we finish cutting his grass?’ His lawnmower actually wouldn’t start,” Baker said. “We were able to go to a neighbor’s house and kind of say, ‘Hey, do you mind if we borrow your lawnmower?’ He said, ‘Absolutely.’ We went over and ended up getting his lawnmower going at the time. Just knowing that he was going to be coming back, and with the medical emergency that he had going on, he wouldn’t have been able to finish, it was taking one [more] thing off of his plate, and just allowing him [to] heal and recover that much quicker.”
“It was the right thing to do, so, I said, ‘Absolutely, let’s do it.’ We went back and saw, we still had half the yard to do,” said Madariaga, who recently graduated from the fire academy four months ago. “We went over to the neighbor’s house, [and] he was happy to help. Offered us his mower, wouldn’t take any gas money or anything. He just wanted to help too. It was just a community coming together to help somebody in need.”
Said a neighbor: “I thought that was a good reflection on the firefighters and a good gesture for them to do that. They should be commended. I didn’t do anything. I was just being a good neighbor. That’s it.”
Chief Michael Barakey, Suffolk Fire & Rescue Chief is proud of the first responders.
“I was proud, but also, it’s what I expect,” Barakey said. “I would expect our firefighters or any firefighter to do what they did. [It] filled my heart [with] love. We serve with pride and honor.”
Other first responders on the call include Lt. Robin Knife, Medic Firefighter Chip Triplett, and Firefighter/Paramedic Nicholas Fuga.
“Senior Firefighter Josh is also our chaplain,” Barakey said. “He gives in the firehouse all the time as senior firefighter, then he serves our community all the time as our chaplain, and he serves people who in our department that are ill are not feeling well all the way up. Pat, he graduated with the recent fire academy. It’s the best fire academy graduates we’ve ever had. For him to be at this firehouse, very busy firehouse, surrounded by great people that will influence him for the rest of the career, he’ll pass it down one day when he’s in charge of the truck saying, ‘Let’s do this, let’s finish this off. Let’s make sure this person’s day is better.'”
