An FDNY firefighter from Islip who was critically injured in a 2011 fire met his life-saving blood donors for the first time at dinner in Woodbury on Wednesday.
Robert Wiedmann suffered mostly third-degree burns on more than 50 percent of his body while fighting a major house blaze in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in 2011.
A type O-negative blood donor himself, Wiedmann received a tremendous outpour of blood donations from across the region to as far as Boston, Massachusetts. O-negative donors are known as “universal donors” because their blood can be used in trauma situations when there is no time for blood typing. Wiedmann’s many donors were critical in saving his life as he recovered from more than a dozen surgeries.
Find out what's happening in Syossetwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
On Wednesday, he met nine of his donors in person at Long Island Blood Services’ annual donor recognition and appreciation awards dinner at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.
NYC Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano was in attendance and introduced Wiedmann to his donors.
Find out what's happening in Syossetwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“You never know when you might need it,” said Wiedmann, who is still in recovery. “It’s definitely strangers helping strangers. I am grateful for the people that came out for me, to support me and help me through my time of need.”
Wiedmann took the time to encourage others to donate blood.
“Hopefully everyone could take a few minutes out of their day to do that for somebody else that they don’t know,” he said.
“It’s a great feeling to be able to do that for someone,” he added. “I’m just so appreciative of the community.”Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
