HAVERHILL — Seven Haverhill firefighters were honored for saving the life of Haverhill resident Edward Modeen after he was thrown from his motorcycle and into the side of a car in May 2023.
The honor came during last Tuesday night’s City Council meeting with Mayor Melinda Barrett offering special recognition to the seven.
Barrett said Modeen reached out to her office to request honoring the following firefighters: Deputy Gregory Roberts, Lt. Keith Baldwin, Capt. Richard Shellene, firefighter William Cowl, firefighter Patrick Taft, firefighter Kyle Lepore and firefighter Andrew Hastings, who responded to the accident at the intersection of Main Street and Kenoza Avenue.
“Mr. Modine said he could have been easily paralyzed or died if not for the first responders who attended to him that night,” Barrett said. “Their margin of error was so small and they did everything right that evening.”
Barrett praised the city’s public safety department, saying it has the best men and women serving the people of Haverhill, who show up to work every day and do their best for the community.
“I am grateful to them and for their service always but especially when they save someone and make sure they go home to their family after experiencing a horrible accident,” she said.
Modeen, 45, who lives on Sherman Avenue, said on the evening of the accident he and his wife were on his motorcycle heading out for dinner. He said they were traveling north on Main Street approaching Monument Square when a car traveling south suddenly turned left at Kenoza Avenue and he was unable to avoid colliding with the car.
He said his wife, who was also wearing a helmet, was thrown over the car and suffered minor injuries while he was thrown headfirst into the side of the car.
Modeen said the responding firefighters didn’t know at the time but he’d suffered at least 10 broken bones in his neck and a vertebrae was split diagonally and was pressing on his spinal cord.
“When I was at the hospital, they’re like if you breathe the wrong way, you’re going to die,” he said. “That’s how close it was to puncturing my spinal cord.”
He said if the first responders had not done everything perfectly, he probably would have died.
“If my neck was moved the wrong way or if they (firefighters) had handled any of the situation at all off, I would have died,” Modeen said. Because of the firefighters’ response and care, Modeen said he has been able to make memories with his family, such as attending his son’s middle school graduation in June of last year, just one month after the accident and attending his father’s funeral in January.
Modeen, an accountant, was employed as a service adviser at a New Hampshire car dealership. He said he can no longer work and has filed for disability.
Barrett and the City Council presented citations from the city to each of the first responders.
Council Vice President Tim Jordan said the response by firefighters to Modeen’s injuries is just one example of the critical roles firefighters play in the community, even when not fighting fires.