By Svetlana Shkolnikova
North jersey Media Group / northjersey.com
LEONIA, N.J. — Every time 29-year-old paramedic and Leonia native Rebecca Serkey stepped into a medical helicopter to fly to a person in need, she was living her dream, according to friends and colleagues.
Rebecca Serkey, clad in her flight helmet, died during a medical helicopter flight in July. Her mother, Harriet Haberman, is honoring her daughter’s memory with the Rebecca Serkey Memorial Foundation, which will give scholarships to emergency medical technicians studying to become paramedics at Rockland Community College, where Serkey received her certification, and Bergen Community College.
That dream ended on July 17 in a fiery crash on a rocky New Mexico hilltop but her mother, Harriet Haberman, is determined to keep it going for those that aspire to follow in her footsteps.
By September 2015, the Leonia resident hopes to officially launch the Rebecca Serkey Memorial Foundation and hand out its first scholarships to emergency medical technicians (EMTs) studying to become paramedics at Rockland Community College, where Serkey received her certification in paramedicine, and Bergen Community College.
“I believe everyone should contribute to their own education but I also know it can be a hardship because EMTs don’t make a lot of money unfortunately,” said Haberman. “I wanted to start a scholarship fund in [Rebecca’s] memory.”
Her goal got off to a promising start on Dec. 13 with a fundraiser hosted by Serkey’s friends, fellow paramedics and favorite band, Wood n Strings, in Lincoln Park. The packed event raised nearly $5,000 through donations, a raffle and sales of a bracelet inscribed with the words: “Rebecca Serkey, MICP, FP: Follow your dreams, Forever in our hearts.”
Serkey began following hers shortly after graduating from Leonia High School in 2002. She started as a volunteer in the borough’s ambulance corps, then joined the EMT team in Palisades Park, Fort Lee and Ridgefield.
In 2009, she became a mobile intensive care unit (MICU) paramedic at Holy Name Medical Center and the following year, at University Hospital in Newark, where her ambulance was involved in a car accident that left her injured but did not stop her from getting out and coming to people’s aid.
“That’s the kind of person she was,” said Haberman, describing her daughter as an adventurous, outgoing, caring, bright, devoted and extraordinary young woman. “She really loved helping people in crisis. She had no problems with the blood and gore of this thing.”
When a flight paramedic position opened up with the critical care transport service TriState CareFlight in New Mexico, Serkey jumped at the opportunity for a new adventure, this time far away from home.
“She was so happy being there,” said Haberman. “All she would say on Facebook, every other day, was ‘I love my job, I love my job.’”
Her job, and the emergency services community, loved her back.
TriState CareFlight created scholarship funds in honor of Serkey and the two other crew members killed in the helicopter crash and last month, the New Jersey Department of Health recognized the contributions she made to emergency medical services in the area.
“Her kindness and concern for others will be greatly missed by the community that she has served so faithfully,” read the in memoriam certificate the Office of Emergency Medical Services presented to her mother.
Haberman plans to hold a major fundraiser for the Rebecca Serkey Memorial Foundation on Sept. 12, 2015 but until then asks that donations be sent to the Rebecca Serkey Memorial Foundation c/o Harriet Haberman, 109 Howard Terrace, Leonia, NJ 07605.
For more information or to purchase a bracelet, e-mail harrhabermanphd@gmail.com.