Awards were presented to eight individuals who risked their lives to save others, a fire chief who has devoted his life to prevention, and a burn survivor who gives back to the community that saved her

 

Center Valley, Pa., Oct. 16, 2024 – The Valley Preferred Spirit of Courage (VPSOC) awards, created by Burn Prevention Network (BPN), Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) and Valley Preferred, were presented on Oct. 14 at DeSales University. Spirit of Courage awards, which were presented to eight individuals, honor local heroes who have risked their lives to save others from burn injury or death. Reeva Gupta, the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed her mother, was awarded the Walter J. Okunski Phoenix Award, recognizing her outstanding work in the burn survivor community. The Partners in Prevention Award was presented to John Bast, retired fire chief for the Easton Fire Department, for his service and dedication to educating community members about fire safety and burn prevention. Special guest John Salka shared his experience as a 33-year firefighter and former battalion chief with the Fire Department of the City of New York.

“With the help of generous donors and sponsors, Burn Prevention Network is proud to provide the Valley Preferred Spirit of Courage Awards along with burn prevention and support services,” said Corissa Rolón, CEO and executive director of BPN. “We are grateful to be able to celebrate each and every individual at this event and are privileged to share this year’s honorees’ inspirational stories.”

For 19 years, the VPSOC awards ceremony has honored heroes and burn survivors who have helped others in the burn community. As one of the most esteemed events in eastern Pennsylvania, it attracted more than 500 first responders (firefighters, EMTs, police officers), burn care providers and businesspeople from the Lehigh Valley and across the state of Pennsylvania. A duo of emcees, Mark Shepperd and Blakely McHugh, hosted the event. Along with being a radio personality with 101.1 MORE-FM, Shepperd is also a firefighter with King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company Station #47 and has been an emcee of the VPSOC awards nearly since its inception. McHugh is an anchor and reporter with WFMZ-TV69. 

BPN presents the annual VPSOC award program in partnership with Valley Preferred and LVHN.  Additional sponsors this year included: Gold sponsors, East Allen EMS, Kerecis and Service Electric Cablevision; and Silver sponsors, Kistler O’Brien Fire Protection and MedEvac.

 

About Burn Prevention Network

Burn Prevention Network is a Pennsylvania statewide 501(c) 3 nonprofit. BPN has a nearly 40-year history of successful program and service delivery and is one of the most respected burn nonprofits in the U.S. Our staff serves on the American Burn Association’s Prevention Committee, and our camp is a member of the International Association of Burn Camps. Our mission is to reduce the risk for burns and empower burn survivors and their families.

The Burn Prevention Network educates, supports, advocates and empowers. We teach those who are most vulnerable for risk of burns how to protect themselves and others from injury by giving them the knowledge and tools they need to be safe. We support burn survivors and their families as they continue to deal with their trauma and then empower them as they adjust to a new reality. While our reach extends throughout Pennsylvania, our focus is on those populations most at-risk for burn injuries. We offer education for new parents, children and older adults; provide support services for survivors and their families; and use traditional and social media to promote safe practices and burn reduction.

We are effective because of the nature, extent and quality of our partnerships with regional burn centers and other health, public safety and community-based organizations. What sets us apart are the availability and quality of our programs, our long-standing relationships, our demonstrated expertise, and the commitment and dedication of our board and staff. We honor our past by staying true to our mission. We will ensure our future by having a solid financial plan and diversified revenue streams, a broad network of partners who will support our work, an engaged board and a staff who passionately believe in what we do. For more information on Burn Prevention Network programs and services, volunteer opportunities or partnership possibilities, visit burnprevention.org.

 

Valley Preferred Spirit of Courage Awards 2024 Recipients 

 

SPIRIT OF COURAGE AWARD

1. Eric Anderson, Captain

Ralph Graham, Firefighter/EMT

Richard Machey, Firefighter/EMT

Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department

 

On a cold and snowy February night, the Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department was dispatched to check out an alarm at the B’nai B’rith 12-story high-rise on Northampton Street, which is home to many elderly residents. They soon got word that there was smoke in the building. Firefighters arrived to find extremely heavy smoke conditions and intense heat from a fire on the second floor. While they went to work to extinguish the fire, firefighter/EMT Richard Machey searched a second-floor hallway and came upon an unresponsive female on the floor. Capt. Eric Anderson and firefighter/EMT Ralph Graham soon arrived, and the three of them pulled and carried the victim to the stair tower under heavy smoke and heat conditions and limited visibility, then down the steps to a waiting EMS team. All told, firefighters evacuated 146 residents, with 19 going to area hospitals, one in critical condition. Everyone survived, thanks to the extraordinary teamwork of the entire crew that night.

 

2. Mark Hysock, Officer

Shenandoah Borough Police Department

Around midday on Dec. 22, 2023, firefighters in northern Schuylkill County were dispatched to a reported house fire with entrapment in the village of Shenandoah Heights in West Mahanoy Township. Officer Mark Hysock of the Shenandoah Borough Police Department was on patrol when the call came in, and he immediately responded to assist. Hysock, who is also a volunteer firefighter for the Shenandoah Rescue Hook and Ladder Co., entered the duplex wearing only his police uniform and made his way to the third floor. He crawled down a smoke-filled hallway and found an 18-month-old child in the bedroom that was on fire. He grabbed the child and crawled to safety, just as the firefighters began to arrive. The child was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest. Hysock is credited with saving the child’s life.

 

3. Timothy Kline, Officer, Emmaus Police Department

On June 24, 2023, at 3:15 a.m., first responders were dispatched for a fire at the Colonial Crest apartment complex in Emmaus. The fire was in a three-story building containing 36 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Emmaus police arrived first to find heavy smoke and fire coming from the ground floor in the middle of the building. Officer Timothy Kline

started evacuating people from the lower level, then learned of a family trapped on a third-floor balcony above the fire. While firefighters attacked the fire, Kline, who is also a volunteer firefighter, took a ladder from the fire truck and brought each member of the family – mother, father, baby – down the ladder to safety. He then climbed up to the second floor to check for victims in the smoke-filled apartments. When Kline learned that another family of four was trapped on a third-floor balcony on the other side of the building, he raced around and took a ladder off another fire truck. Again, he climbed the ladder four times to rescue the mother, father and two children. Kline, who was dressed only in his police uniform with no other gear, suffered smoke inhalation in the process of safely evacuating several families.

 

4. Bret T. Marks, Firefighter, Hereford Volunteer Fire Company
   

On Jan. 17, Marks was traveling on Big Road in New Hanover Township when he came upon a one-car accident. The car was on fire with two men trapped inside. He attempted to put the fire out with the extinguisher he carried in his car, but the fire intensified. Marks and another passerby who had stopped cut the seat belt to pull the passenger out and drag him away from the burning car. The driver, however, was stuck, and flames were coming through the firewall into the vehicle. Marks, who was not wearing any firefighter gear, battled smoke,

flames, heat and the airbags to reach in and pull the man over the center console to safety seconds before the car was fully engulfed. Sadly, the passenger later died from the injuries sustained in the crash, but both men would have died in the car were it not for Marks’ heroic actions.

 

5. Aaron Simon, Sergeant

Robert McMahon, Officer

Hatboro Police Department

In the early morning hours of Thanksgiving, Nov. 23, 2023, a newspaper delivery driver spotted a fire on Fairview Avenue in Hatboro and called 911. Sgt. Aaron Simon and Officer Robert McMahon arrived within a minute to find heavy fire and smoke coming from the second floor of the home. Without hesitation, they forced entry into the burning home and saw a walker and a stair chair, alerting them that someone might be trapped on the second floor. Risking their own safety, they made their way up the steps, fighting heavy smoke and heat from the fire. There they found the 97-year-old resident, semiconscious and disoriented, and carried him down the stairs to waiting EMTs. When the resident, a WWII

pilot, had the opportunity later to thank the police officers who saved his life, he described being carried down the stairs as “the sweetest ride I ever had.”

 

WALTER J. OKUNSKI PHOENIX AWARD

 

Reeva Gupta

Downingtown, Pa.

Reeva Gupta was a successful physician assistant in a neurosurgery practice in New York when her life changed forever on March 5, 2023. She and her mother, Roma Gupta, were in a small plane when they noticed smoke in the cockpit. The plane ultimately crashed, and Reeva was the sole survivor. She was flown to Stony Brook Medicine Burn Center, where she remained for over a month in a medically induced coma before being transferred to Lehigh Valley Health Network Regional Burn Center. She had second- and third-degree burns over 50% of her body, including her face, torso, arms and hands. Other injuries sustained in the crash included fractures in her back, ribs and leg. Gupta’s medical experience gave her the ability to intellectually process her care, but nothing prepared her for the challenges she would face as a patient. She battled several infections. Surgical procedures included a tracheostomy, numerous excisions, debridements and several skin

grafting surgeries. Eventually the fingers on her left hand had to be amputated. Her wounds required lengthy dressing changes on a daily basis. Gupta navigated everything with composure, never losing her focus on regaining her independence.

 

Gupta finally went home four months after the crash. As she continues doing the work to grow and heal herself, including processing the loss of her mother, she has also turned her attention to helping other survivors with her unique perspective of provider and patient. She has taken every opportunity to engage and volunteer within the greater survivor

community. Her distinct sense of humor, openness and honesty endear her to others in the monthly burn support group. She attended the 2023 World Burn Congress despite significant barriers, taking her first steps toward greater involvement in the national survivor community. She has just completed the process to become a certified SOAR (Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery) peer supporter. Vitality, independence and service are deeply important to Gupta. She understands the power of love, of loss, and how to navigate unforeseen crises and challenges to get to a new place where growth and joy are

possible again. She has been changed in profound ways and is now supporting others in navigating what seems like an impossible journey.

 

PARTNERS IN PREVENTION AWARD

 

John Bast, CFO, MIFireE

Fire Chief/EMC (retired), Easton Fire Department

Since joining Hecktown Volunteer Fire Department at the age of 18, John Bast has dedicated his life to fire safety and burn prevention. He worked with Burn Prevention Network’s previous Juvenile FireSetter (JFS) program, serving as a member of the JFS Advisory Committee, providing youth education and offering advice to the Pennsylvania State Fire

Commissioner’s committee on statewide juvenile fire misuse efforts. He was a member of Pennsylvania’s Senate Resolution 6 (SR6), a report that provides background and legislative initiatives needed to improve delivery of emergency services in the commonwealth. Bast has continually stressed fire safety and prevention throughout his career, participating in numerous community events and school programs. He served for many years on the board of directors for the Burn Prevention Network and continues to serve on the Valley Preferred

Spirit of Courage Award Selections Committee. Throughout his tenure on the board, Bast has served on many committees. He is known for his reliability and follow-through. Ever the champion of burn prevention, he continues to educate through social media and in public. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania Career Fire Chiefs Association and teaches in the fire science program at Warren County Community College.