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FDNY’s only amputee EMT gets promoted to lieutenant

The 43-year-old emergency medical technician has spent his career in Brooklyn

CBS

NEW YORK — A father, triathlete and New York City EMT is beating the odds and inspiring his fellow FDNY coworkers.

On Wednesday, he was one of 15 promoted to lieutenant. What makes him so special is that he’s the only one of them doing it as an amputee. As David Kruysman crossed the stage to be promoted, there was a slight limp in one of his legs. It is, he said, the result of a birth defect that left him having to use a prosthesis all his life.

The 43-year-old emergency medical technician has spent his career in Brooklyn and him becoming a lieutenant came as no surprise to the fire commissioner. “I remember when Dave came on the department with prosthetic leg and ‘Could he do the job?’ He’s not only done the job, he’s surpassed all our expectations,” FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano told CBS 2′s John Slattery.

Full story: FDNY’s only amputee EMT gets promoted to lieutenant