By Sarah Peters
The Palm Beach Post
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Julie Garcia made it a point to hug each of the Palm Beach Gardens Fire Explorers who gathered Monday evening to honor her husband and another paramedic killed in an ambulance crash in Jupiter.
The Fire Explorers raised $1,760 for the families of Lahiri Garcia, 51, and Paul Besaw, 36, two paramedics from American Medical Response who were killed in a crash about 3 a.m. June 1 on Indiantown Road outside Colonial Pizza.
Genero D. Ajqui, the driver of a Chrysler Sebring, pulled in front of Garcia and Besaw’s ambulance, which flipped on its side, witnesses said. Ajqui was drinking before the crash and faces DUI charges, according to police.
Fire Explorers are young people between the ages of 14 to 21 who are interested in emergency medical training and community service. The Palm Beach Gardens post wanted to do something to show support for the families, so they organized a bake sale outside of two Publix stores one evening and raised more than $1,700 in two and a half hours.
Adviser Robert Pieris, a Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue captain, told the families of the two men that people saw pictures of their loved ones on posters and pitched in far more than the price of the baked goods.
“We realize that anything we do is not going to ease the pain you’ve gone through in the past few weeks,” or will go through in the future, he said.
Kevin Meehan, an AMR supervisor, said he was encouraged by the young people who didn’t fit the stereotype of millennials who are preoccupied with themselves. They recognize that they’re part of the emergency medical service family, he said.
Julie Garcia thanked the Explorers for their efforts.
“I think this is amazing, what they’ve done for our families,” she said. “This was absolutely wonderful.”
Explorer Cadets Skye Underwood, 17, and Daniel Allen, 18, coordinated the bake sale. A lot of people gave “above and beyond” because of their high respect for the fallen paramedics, Underwood said. She said she met the families briefly at the memorial, and it was humbling to see them again and be able to do a little more for them.
Allison Besaw, Paul Besaw’s daughter, will have her first birthday without her dad when she turns six on Thursday, mom Dawn Besaw said. Her party was supposed to be July 10.
“It means a lot that the Explorers did that for us. He (Paul) always knew he wanted to be a paramedic, even when he was a kid, so seeing these boys and girls reminds me of him,” Dawn Besaw said.
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