Hero FDNY EMTs honored for rescuing 2 swimmers caught in the Coney Island current last summer
CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (WABC) -- With more heat and humidity to come in the following weeks, maybe you're planning to head to the beach, but if you are... be safe.
Two EMTs know firsthand just how quickly something can go wrong on the beach, in fact, they were just awarded for their heroic efforts last summer in Coney Island.
As soon as they turn the ignition, Mitchell Tarnapolsky and Amber Black become like guardian angels to the people on the beach.
"With us there - they're alive," Tarnapolsky said.
It was a near-death experience the FDNY EMTs drove into when two teenage boys began struggling in the Coney Island current last summer.
"At like 6 o'clock, right when the lifeguards were getting ready to go home, we heard it on the parks radio," Black said.
"Automatically, I just took off my shirt and my boots and I dove in," Tarnapolsky said.
They were patrolling the boardwalk as part of the FDNY EMS Beach Gator detail.
"You just react based off of adrenaline," Black said.
"New York's Bravest" were the only ones in position for the rescue.
"He went underwater already so thankfully from my training with the lifeguards I knew to go under, swim down," Tarnapolsky said.
Tarnapolsky had been a New York City lifeguard for eight years.
"As we're swimming back he's yelling to me, 'where's my brother, where's my brother?'" Tarnapolsky said.
Tarnapolsky was able to find the second teen and drag both onto shore as seen in a video posted to Instagram and provided by the FDNY. Black was standing by to render aid.
The pair received the Christopher J. Prescott Medal on Wednesday, for last summer's July 6 rescue. It's considered the highest EMS honor.
"To be given that and presented with that it's very like - almost like a breathtaking moment, you're like wow," Black said.
Beaches are packed, everyone is out enjoying the hot weather without a care in the world, but this beach season follows a particularly difficult one for New York City beaches.
Last summer, there were seven drowning deaths, the highest number since 2019.
"You want to go in the water? Have a great time. Be my guest. From 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and only where you see those orange umbrellas," Tarnapolsky said.
That's one experienced swimmer's simple word of advice for a summer without tragedy.
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