The Masonic Lodge in Crawfordville held their annual First Responders Appreciation Awards Thursday. JuliaAnne Harvey received an award after she helped save Sawyer Crawley back in January.
Five first responders received awards Thursday. Sawyer Crawley himself presented JuliaAnne Harvey’s award after she helped save him back in January. Watch the video to see what Sawyer’s mother and other first responders had to say about JuliaAnne.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Being able to take charge, being hyper-focused, and making sure a young boy got the care he needed. Those are reasons why JuliaAnne Harvey was selected to receive the Firefighter/Paramedic of the Year award.
Harvey’s supervisor says it’s always hard to decide who should receive the award. But this year, it was an easier choice.
“It’s been an absolute honor to be able to be alongside him for his recovery and see him get back to being his normal self,” Harvey said.
JuliaAnne and four other first responders were honored Thursday evening in the Masonic Lodge’s annual First Responder Appreciation Awards.
They each received an award, but JuliaAnne received hers in an extra special way.
Sawyer Crawley, the child she helped save back in January, was there to personally present her award.
“It was very much a surprise. Turns out, a lot of people in my department knew it was happening, but they kept it a huge secret. I had absolutely no idea until it actually happened,” Harvey said. “It made me tear up a little bit. He just, he’s a great kid, and he means a lot to all of us here at the department. It was awesome that he got to present that award to me today.”
Harvey was one of the first teams on the scene after Sawyer was hurt in a hit-and-run earlier this year. As his recovery journey began, she made sure he got the care he needed.
“I’d open the door to see what they needed. And she looked at straight at me, and she said, ‘What I need you to do is get everybody out the truck, including yourself,'” explained Jerry Johnson, a Division Chief for the Wakulla County Fire Rescue. “And that’s when I knew she was hyper focused, in the moment, and doing what she needed to do.”
Harvey visited Sawyer when she could. She even escorted Sawyer to his rehab facility in Jacksonville after he was released from the hospital.
“It was just so surreal seeing her, because she saw him literally at his worst. I’m thankful that I never saw him in that time that she saw him,” Sawyer’s mother Kaitlyn Crawley said Thursday, “And she gave me hope. She said his vitals were always fantastic on the way to the hospital, and so that gave me the little bit that I needed to help get me through those days.”
This was the first time Harvey had seen Sawyer since his welcome home parade back in February. She says it’s amazing to see all his growth and how much he has recovered.
A volunteer firefighter, a reserve deputy, a dispatcher, and a deputy sheriff were also honored for their selfless commitment to protect people in our neighborhoods.
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