Rep. Kelly Honors PA Hero Firefighter Ryan Sekerski on House Floor
Rep. Kelly: “People like Ryan Sekerski are ordinary people doing extraordinary things every day, and why?
Because they’re truly Americans.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) delivered remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives today in honor of Ryan Sekerski, Battalion Chief of the Cochranton Volunteer Fire Department in Cochranton, Pennsylvania, who heroically rescued a trapped driver from a burning gasoline tanker truck earlier this month.
Rep. Kelly’s floor speech:
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a brave young man from back in my district, Ryan Sekerski. He’s a 29-year veteran of the [Cochranton] Volunteer Fire Department. … This is a picture of Mr. Sekerski with his family. We celebrated his act of heroism that day. … I have no idea how he’s registered or how he votes — but I do know where his heart is.”
“What you’re looking at is a tanker truck. … Mr. Sekerski, on his way home from work, heard on the radio that a tanker truck, a gas tanker truck, had swerved to avoid being in a collision. It hit a utility pole, was on its side, and seeping gas out that was on fire. When he arrived at the scene, his question was, ‘Is the driver OK?’ Nobody knew the answer. When he found out the driver was still inside this truck, he went to his trunk, got on his volunteer fireman’s gear, went inside this burning inferno, with no regard for his own life and his own safety, but more regard for the person who was trapped inside.”
“What a remarkable act of heroism, at a time when our country is looking for strong Americans. People like Ryan Sekerski are ordinary people doing extraordinary things every day, and why? Because they’re truly Americans. And, especially on the weekend we have coming up, we celebrate these types of people and what they’ve done.”
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