Duty Death: Jonathan “Thunder” Damon - [Tupper Lake]
End of Service: 23/04/2020
By Laura French
TUPPER LAKE, N.Y. — A New York EMT who volunteered with multiple agencies for more than two decades died last week after suffering a medical emergency during his shift.
Tupper Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad EMT Jonathan “Thunder” Damon, 38, suffered a medical episode Thursday morning and died Thursday night, less than 24 hours after responding to his last 911 call, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. The exact cause of the medical episode is still being determined.
Damon had served with the Tupper Lake squad since 2014, and also volunteered in Chateaugay, Brushton, Saranac Lake and Malone, serving with some agencies simultaneously, according to Tupper Lake Rescue Squad Maintenance Chief Mark Picerno.
“Over the last few days we have seen how many lives Thunder touched over his last 20 years in emergency services,” read a post on the Tupper Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad’s Facebook page. “From every department he has worked for, from every Firefighter and EMT he has been friends with, every ER staff member and even the waitresses at his favorite restaurants have (posted) memories of such a great man.”
A procession was held in tribute to Damon on Saturday, with multiple first responder agencies participating to give him “a hero’s send off,” according to the squad.
“I have received messages of condolences from brothers and sisters as far as California and Quebec,” a rescue squad member wrote on Facebook. “Although today was really sad it’s a reminder to all of us just how big the First Responder family is.”
Damon received his AEMT-CC certification in 2010 and had recently completed pre-requisites for paramedic school, according to his obituary. He is survived by his grandfather and parents, two siblings, his fiancée, four children, his fiancée’s two sons, and four nieces and nephews.