Boy thanks lifesaving Phoenix fire personnel
He had been shot, had no pulse when crew arrived
Nearly two years after he was accidentally shot in the chest, 14-year-old Eric Mendez finally was able to thank the firefighters and hospital personnel who saved his life, during a gathering at a Phoenix fire station Wednesday.
Mendez was accidentally shot by his uncle in his home on Feb. 21, 2016. The bullet went through Mendez’s arm and pierced through his chest.
When paramedics arrived the boy, then 12, had no pulse and wasn’t breathing.
Phoenix Fire Engine 21 paramedics, along with nurses and doctors from Phoenix Children’s Hospital, saved Mendez’s life.
On Wednesday morning, he was given the chance to thank them outside of a Phoenix fire station adjacent to the hospital.
“Thank you for saving my life,” he told the firefighters and hospital personnel.
“I wanted to see them. They saved me and they save other people, too.”
Mendez said he doesn’t really think about the shooting, but that didn’t stop him from seeing the men and women who he now calls his heroes.
The boy was joined by his grand-
“Thank you for saving my life. I wanted to see them. They saved me and they save other people, too.” Eric Mendez, 14, speaking to firefighters and hospital personnel
mother, Margaret Chavez. She presented both the firefighters and doctors and nurses with handmade signs with messages she transcribed herself.
“To our heroes at engine 21,” it read. “There are no words big enough. There are no hugs strong enough to show our gratitude. A million thank-yous to say how much we appreciate you.Thank you for all that you are and all that you do.”
For Mendez, it was the first time he has been able to see many of the people who saved his life that day. Blake Tirman, 11 years with the Phoenix Fire Department, was one of the first paramedics on the scene and knows this is a call he’ll always remember.
“This is such a rare deal, so yeah, I’ll remember Eric forever,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t always have outcomes like this, so it’s definitely something that sticks with us.”
Tirman was one of five firefighters who Mendez was able to thank on Wednesday. Also there was Capt. Brian Mangis and firefighters Will Benedict, John Cooney and Hector Lopez.
The men who saved Mendez were able to do something Wednesday they couldn’t do on Feb. 21: Get to know him. Their conversation ranged from how he was doing in school to the sports that he enjoyed playing.
Mendez hugged the nurses who worked on him that day and spoke for sometime with Michelle Chacon, a trauma nurse in the emergency room at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Chacon was visibly excited to see Mendez, saying Mendez will be one of the top people she will remember when she one day retires.
“We think about him all the time,” she said. “It’s been over a year-and-a-half, and you still think, ‘How is he? What is he up to?’ To actually see how well he is doing, it helps us know that we are making a difference.”
Mendez has since returned to school and his normal life. He has his friends and is back to playing his favorite sport, soccer. His grandmother said he enjoys his PlayStation and she would one day like to see him invent video games.