Local officials such as Senator Fred Akshar and Binghamton Mayor Rich David honored four people whose quick action saved the life of a Binghamton police officer.

“It doesn’t surprise me that’s what they do, they help people,” says Kaczynski. “I just can’t thank them enough, I’m here today because of them and I’m sure they would have done it for anyone in our community.”

On September 9th 2019 Binghamton Police Officer Brad Kaczynski was training new recruits on officer survival during the police academy. While finishing up and preparing for the next day he was stung by a bee. Kaczynski is allergic and soon after went into anaphylactic shock. Fellow training officers saw it was a medical emergency.

“First thing we did was call 911 immediately to start the gears at work and get things moving,” says Schoonover. “Then we just reacted to how his health started to deteriorate. He started having shallow breaths so we got him on the ground and we loaded him into a car and got him to people that could help him more medically than we could.” 

Tioga County Sheriff’s Deputy David Schoonover, Sergeant Dennis Pavelski of the Binghamton Police Department, Detective Matthew Barcak and civilian Erika Harder of the Broome County Sheriff's Office worked to save Kaczynski. He had stopped breathing while they waited for medical help so Barcak performed CPR until they arrived. After a few days in the hospital Kaczynski made a full recovery. 

“It’s a blessing in our line of work,” says Kaczynski. “We work with some amazing people and we know they’re going to be there for you if something happens. Whether it’s yourself having a medical emergency or you’re in a situation on a call when you need help you know they’re going to be there.”

During the ceremony where the four received the New York State Liberty Award medal, the highest honor bestowed by the New York State Senate, Kaczynski thanked the group for their work not only for himself, but for his wife and kids. 

“It’s definitely emotional because as Brad says he is a friend and a colleague,” says Schoonover. “We don’t work in the same departments but he’s a fellow police officer and everybody in the profession is a family member. It’s difficult but it’s nice to see him here today and just glad that we could make it happen.”