#50for50: Volume 15
▪️ Tyler Brown
▪️ 22 years old
▪️ Northampton County
“I’m from right here in Easton and I am a volunteer firefighter with the Nancy Run Fire Company in Bethlehem Township. We take pride in what we do. We run about 1,000 calls a year. That’s everything from motor vehicle accidents to chimney alarms to car fires, house fires, all types of stuff. We also assist EMS with medical calls. They were a big help in making my dream happen. I suffer from a seizure history. I used to have 150-250 seizures a week as a kid due to sexual abuse as an infant. The doctor said I’d never reach that dream of wanting to be a firefighter. Here today I stand, 22 — even though I wasn’t supposed to live past 7 — with three years on the fire department and eight years seizure free. … I love what I do. We have our gear we have to have on in a minute or less. I’m not interior yet because I don’t have those credentials, but I’m exterior. I’m starting to learn how to hit the hydrants, I help clean the trucks and I respond and help with whatever I can help with, whether that’s assisting other firefighters on the hose line, or assisting them for getting other equipment they might need. I just love being a fireman. I take pride in it. … I’ve been doing the [Lehigh Valley] Polar Plunge since I was 11. Two years ago, Jim Regan from Team Caitlyn talked me into joining his team, so now I always come out and Plunge with them. I’m best friends with his daughter, Caitlyn so I have the privilege of doing this in honor of her. Some years it’s cold. This year it wasn’t really as cold, but it could be because I’ve been doing it forever so I’m used to the water temperature. I didn’t really feel the shock. I also did it the smart way. Once the boat ramp starts dropping, I did a dive. I was already completely under the water, so I didn’t really feel anything. … I played track & field at Liberty High School. It was fun and honestly now that I know you can do Special Olympics at any age, I’d literally sign up to do it again.”
