Distinguished Service Award Presented to Five Locals Honored for Selfless, Life-Saving Responses

by M.C. Millman

Five local residents were recognized for their selfless, life-saving efforts in helping three people, including the rescue of a boy who had fallen through ice into the freezing lake water and was struggling to get out, as reported by Rockland Daily here.

The Distinguished Service Award, the Legislature's highest honor, was presented to  Naftoli Schischa, a Hatzoloh of Rockland volunteer who assisted a woman who fainted in the aisle while on board a plane traveling from New York to Florida as well as  Heshy Leifer, a Hatzoloh of Rockland, a volunteer who provided medical assistance to a man while on board a flight from Morocco to New York.

Usher Wieder, who went into a lake to rescue a boy who had fallen through the ice, and Chaverim volunteer Shloime Spira and Hatzoloh volunteer Moshe Schuster, who also entered the water to assist in bringing the boy to shore and providing medical attention also received the Distinguished Sevice Award.

Legislator Aron Wieder presented the awards at the Allison-Parris County Office Building in New City on Wednesday night, February 15. 

"We are gathered here this evening to honor five exceptional individuals," Legislator Wieder said before presenting the awards. "But let me be very clear, in my humble opinion. They are not heroes for jumping into action on an airplane to help a fellow human being or jumping into a nearly frozen, ice-cold lake to save a child from drowning. Who wouldn't? But they are heroes for their everyday efforts to make this world a better place...The ultimate hero is not the person with the one heroic deed to his credit but the person that dedicates every day of his life to doing altruistic deeds with no particular recognition."

"I agree 100% with Legislator Wieder," Rabbi Yosef C. Golding, Hatzoloh EMS Inc's Executive Director, shares with Rockland Daily, "and appreciate his recognizing the heroic actions of all Hatzoloh members. The heroic actions of these  unsung heroes almost never see the limelight, while they save lives every single day all across Rockland County."