Rotarians Honor Local Heroes

Whether inspired by instinct, past experiences or simply good will, three Westporters responded quickly to emergency situations this year in order to help save the life of another.

For their bravery and service, the Westport Rotary Club honored and thanked them at an awards luncheon Tuesday. The honorees included Staples High School graduate Gordon Kempler, Westport firefighter Dan Ambruso and acclaimed soprano opera singer Lucia Palmieri of the New York Grand Opera.

'I JUST FIGURED I WAS DOING MY JOB'

Kempler, 19, rescued a Vietnam veteran last summer after he noticed an unconscious man floating in the waters off Burying Hill Beach, his head sinking beneath the surface. In true lifeguard form, Kempler called for Emergency Medical Services and rushed to the man's aid. With the help of a fellow lifeguard, he removed the man from the water and performed CPR for between 5 and 10 minutes.

"Gordon was critical in saving this man's life," Board of Education member and Rotarian Elaine Whitney said as she introduced Kempler's parents at the luncheon.

Gordon Kempler, a cadet at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, could not attend the ceremony due to school obligations but his parents accepted the community service award on his behalf.

"I was really surprised at how professional he was even in describing what happened (at that time) and how focused and calm he was about it," Gordon's father, Sheldon Kempler said in an interview following the event. "It's really important to him to help his community ... and the recognition has been very rewarding."

Gordon Kempler was reached by phone Tuesday afternoon and said he was thankful the EMS arrived so quickly to assist. Once the victim was taken to Norwalk Hospital, Gordon Kempler said he called the hospital periodically to inquire about the man's condition.

"I was really concerned if he was going to survive," Gordon Kempler said. "I didn't think he had a good chance at all and I was really worried about it. ... It was great to hear he was making recovery."

As for the service award, Gordon Kempler said he is grateful.

"I feel awesome about it," he said. " I never expected anything to come from it. I just figured I was doing my job. It's a really great honor."

OFF-DUTY EFFORT SAVES A LIFE

The Rotary honored Dan Ambruso with a public safety award for his off-duty response to heavy black smoke emanating from the chimney of a home earlier this year. When Ambruso stopped to investigate, he called the fire department to advise them of the situation and then went to warn the resident inside of the hazardous condition.

The fire department had responded to the home a few days before because of severe flooding. Upon opening the door, Ambruso noted a moderate smoke condition in the residence and an accumulation of soot around the occupant's nose. He took the resident outside for fresh air and began a medical assessment while awaiting arrival of the on-duty crew. The smoke was coming from a malfunctioning oil burner. Ambruso's action led to the discovery that the resident had elevated levels of carbon monoxide in his blood.

During the ceremony, Rotarian John Shuck said without Ambruso, the situation could have been "very serious." "It is his brave action that made the difference," Shuck said.

'IN HONOR OF THE THREE JOES'

As for Lucia Palmieri, she was a woman in the right place at the right time who was not afraid to get a little dirty to help someone in need. While she was driving on the Hutchinson River Parkway in Scarsdale, N.Y., in January, she stopped after seeing a SUV slam into and over a guardrail and then slide down a 30-foot embankment, ending up partially submerged in a lake.

She slid butt-first down the hill while calling 9-1-1. When she reached the lake, she was in water up to her thighs. She screamed to get the attention of the female driver, who appeared to be in shock. The woman's car was also filling up with carbon monoxide because the exhaust pipe was stuck in the mud and the fumes were backing up into the car, she said.

With the help of two men who noticed her trying to aid the woman in the SUV, the three of them pulled the driver out of the car and carried her to the top of the hill, next to the roadside. Firefighters who responded to the scene credited Palmieri with saving the woman's life.

Palmieri said it only took her about five minutes to reach the woman and get her out of the car. As she slid down the hill, she said she noticed she had "chunks of hair missing, ripped clothes and stabbing pain" from the icy water.

"But you're on autopilot and 'bam,' you're in the water," she said.

When accepting her community service award Tuesday, Palmieri said she would accept it in honor of the three "Joes" in her life – her grandfather, Joseph "Whitey" Valiante, her father, Joseph Palmieri Sr., and her brother, Joseph Palmieri Jr.

"My grandfather (a firefighter of 36 years in Saugatuck ) ... inspired me in my life to always do what's right and value each life as I value my own. The second Joe, my father, taught me that being a Palmieri woman meant that I could do anything I ever wanted to do if I put my mind to it. ... The third Joe, my brother (a volunteer firefighter in Southport) taught me that sometimes you have to sit on your butt and slide down a hill, step into some pretty stinky mud and smelly stuff just to get the job done.

That's exactly what she did on that cold January day. But the driving force behind Palmieri's actions was because the situation reminded her of how her father died.

"On the day that my father died, my brother Joe along with the Westport Fire and Police departments slid down a steep, icy driveway to get to my father in his truck," she said. "The day of the (January) accident, I was thinking about my father in the comfort of my brother's arms as he died. I was thinking of myself, too, and how it felt to be my dad and what if it was my father in that truck? What if there were kids in the back seat? And before that, I was in the water.

"At the very least, I thought I'll be with someone as they are dying," she said in an interview after the event. "The best gift was the fact that that woman was alive."

The Rotarians might add that Palmieri's action was also a gift. Whether due to instinct or past experience, she credits her actions to her brother, father and grandfather.

"So you see without all these Joes in my life I wouldn't be the person that I am today," she said. "Thank you."