Teen Saved Elderly Neighbor's Life, Honored By Stafford Township

STAFFORD, NJ — A teenage Stafford resident was honored by the Township Council and police department for the actions he took to save his elderly neighbor's life.

Nicholas Pulizzano, 19, was honored through a proclamation at a recent council meeting.

On Aug. 7, Pulizzano was outside when he heard faint cries for help, Mayor Greg Myhre said.

He immediately began looking for the caller and found his elderly neighbor who had fallen and was "extremely dehydrated and delirious," Myhre said. She was in immediate need of emergency medical care, he said.

Pulizzano swiftly contacted Stafford EMS, and his neighbor was taken to Southern Ocean Medical Center, where she received the lifesaving care she needed, Myhre said.

"He really took action where a lot of people might have just gone about their day or said 'none of my business,'" Myhre said. "Thanks to you, a woman is alive."

"I believe you saved that woman's life, so you can have that with you for the rest of your life," Police Chief Thomas Dellane said.

Officer Anthony Vincent echoed the same thoughts. "There's not many 19-year-olds in Stafford Township who have that sense of awareness and alertness to follow a faint cry for help," he said.

"He knew that cry for help was somebody that was in dire need," Vincent said.

Vincent also thanked Pulizzano's father for breaking down the back door to get to the woman.

For his actions, Pulizzano was presented with a Stafford Township Police Department command citation.