Beach Employees Honored For Saving Man's Life

LINDENHURST, NY - Two beach employees were honored on Wednesday for saving the life of a man who suffered from a medical episode last summer.

In August, Peter Detroll was playing volleyball on Cedar Beach in Babylon when he began to experience discomfort and collapsed.

Another visitor began to care for Detroll and called out for a defibrillator.

That’s when the employees, Amanda Illig and Rachel D’Amato sprang into action and ran to retrieve the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from the facility office.

The visitor used the device on Detroll before emergency services arrived and transported him to a local hospital.

Medical professionals that cared for Detroll when he arrived predicted he would not have survived the ordeal if the AED was not used on him.

"This story is a perfect example of why we keep fully-functioning AEDs at all of our beach and pool facilities," Town Deputy Supervisor Tony Martinez, who is also the chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee said. "We strive to provide the safest possible environment for our visitors, and Amanda and Rachel’s actions show that our staff will go above-and-beyond to ensure that."

On Wednesday, officials including Martinez, Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, and the rest of the Town Board held a special ceremony at the Babylon Town Board Room.

During the event, Detroll thanked Illig and D’Amato and told them that he would not have been able to walk his daughter down the aisle at her recent wedding if it wasn’t for their actions.

"These are my guardian angels," Detroll said.

In addition, officials presented the two women with the Town of Babylon Heroism Award, the highest honor it offers.

"I think I speak for everyone here at the Town of Babylon when I say how relieved we are that Peter survived this ordeal, and how proud we are of Rachel and Amanda for saving his life," Schaffer said. "Our Parks department does an amazing job of hiring special individuals to work at our facilities in the summer and this is a testament to that."

Photos courtesy of the Town of Babylon