CBS2 Exclusive: Hero LI Firefighter Awarded 'Medal Of Valor' By Vice President Biden
BELLMORE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Vice President Joseph Biden has honored a Long Island firefighter with the Medal of Valor for heroic actions in the line of duty -- but if you ask the recipient, he'll say he did nothing special.
But as CBS2's Matt Kozar reported, others disagree. And time was not on firefighter John Curley's side when he made the rescue in Bellmore.
He was the first man on the scene of a house fire, just over two years ago. Curley used a ladder to climb into a second story bedroom where a 93-year-old woman was trapped.
"When I grabbed the second window, I grabbed the hot glass, and it burned my hands. The fire started coming over the top of my head. Started getting burns on my forehead," he said, "I thought she had already been deceased because of the amount of smoke in the room, and I didn't want the son to deal with a burnt, deceased mother."
Curley carried the woman out and she survived.
"When I got released from the hospital after I got stitches, I went to her bedside and the nurse who knew me told the lade, 'this is the guy who saved your life.' She squeezed my hand and a tear came out of her eye," he said.
In recognition of his bravery, Vice President Biden awarded Curley the Medal of Valor on Wednesday.
He'll keep the medal next to his FDNY photos. He was there when the towers fell. It will also be next to an article about his time as an NYPD cop -- fifth generation.
A new brick house stands in the spot of the one that burned down. Curley did the electrical work -- he's an electrician too -- and the victim's family asked him to do it. They have remained friends since the blaze.
Curley said he would do it all again to save a life.
