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'Cut Above' awards honors first responders, medical team

Forty-four paramedics, one police officer and one nurse were recently honored for heroic acts in the past year at a special ceremony at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.

"The delivery of health care is a team sport," Dr. Michael Ankin, vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer at Lake Forest Hospital, told the audience on Oct. 23.

"There are nurses and doctors and all of you, the paramedics and firefighters, who are on the front lines during an emergency. Your bravery matters. You make a difference in people's lives and we want to thank you for what you do every day."

The "A Cut Above" awards are presented annually in memory of Anthony M. Gallo, Jr., of the Schaumburg Fire Department, who was fatally injured in the line of duty in 1977. Gallo's son, Lake Forest Battalion Chief Mike Gallo, spoke at the event along with Dr. Aaron Epstein, medical director of Lake Forest Hospital's Emergency Department and Grayslake Emergency Center.

They were also joined by family members of those honored and members of the fire departments of Grayslake, Lake Forest, Round Lake, Lincolnshire, Libertyville, Northbrook and Mundelein.

This is the fifth consecutive year Lake Forest Hospital officials have honored firefighters and paramedics from Cook and Lake counties. The Grayslake North High School jazz band entertained before the awards were announced.

Lake Forest resident Kevin Robinson told the group how many in the crowd helped save his daughter's life.

In August, Ashlynn Robinson, then 9, started coughing during a bicycle ride. After calling 911, paramedics transported her to Lake Forest Hospital with her condition rapidly deteriorating. At one point, Ashlynn's lung collapsed and she stopped breathing.

Ashlynn was stabilized and then flown to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, where it was determined that while swimming a few weeks earlier she accidentally swallowed a small piece of plastic that caused an infection.

The plastic was removed and she was discharged a few days later.

While recovering, both her Lake Forest Hospital clinical team and Lake Forest Fire Department firefighter Richard Brija visited Ashlynn at Lurie Children's Hospital.

"You have no idea what it's like to stand in the corner helpless while your daughter stops breathing," said Kevin Robinson, who addressed the crowd with Ashlynn by his side.

"You're here when we need you, and it's usually not the best situation, so I want to sincerely say thank you. You saved my daughter's life. We will not forget how special life is."

For more on the award winners, visit news.nm.org/northwestern-medicine-lake-forest-hospital-to-recognize-local-first-responders.html.

Ashlynn Robinson, 10, and Lake Forest Fire Department firefighter Richard Brija Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District, Battalion Chief Tony Carraro. Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
Dr. Michael Ankin at the podium. Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
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