By Jenna Ebersole
Pocono Record
SNYDERSVILLE, Pa. — The community is rallying around a Snydersville firefighter and EMT battling for his life after an aneurysm Wednesday morning.
A donation website for Rob Kramer, 39, showed about $5,500 has come in so far to help pay his medical bills and support his family. Kramer has four children, with daughters who are 2, 4 and 12 and a 17-year-old son.
Kramer is an EMT for Wind Gap and Klecknersville EMS and a volunteer with the Blue Ridge Hook & Ladder Fire Co. He has also volunteered with other fire departments over the years, including in Stroudsburg.
A vigil is scheduled for 7 p.m. today at Wind Gap Park.
Friend Dave Koerner, who met Kramer years ago through the emergency medical community, said there were no signs leading up to the aneurysm and he is in critical condition after one surgery.
“It’s been rough for all of us,” Koerner said. “It’s a very tight-knit community.”
But Kramer has also already beaten the odds. Koerner said 70 percent of people who experience the same condition do not survive the trip to the hospital, and only 20 percent survive the first surgery.
Koerner said his friend is an EMT and firefighter because he has a “genuine desire to help.”
“He has such a kind, tender touch when it comes to patient care that you can’t help but love him and love having him around,” he said.
He also works hard for his children, Koerner said, and doesn’t seek praise.
“He did the job because he loved the job,” he said.
Kramer can’t help but make people laugh, he said.
“He is a very free-willed, free-spirited individual and covered in tattoos and piercings. You think, ‘Look at this guy.’ He looks like he doesn’t fit in, like a delinquent” he said. “But you get to know him, literally five minutes within meeting him, talking to him, you get to know him.
“He has such an open personality to anybody,” he added.
To donate, go to http://bit.ly/1b6sOO0. For more information on fundraisers, go to the Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/1jbMMv4 or email helprobkramer@gmail.com.