Roseboro firefighters were honored for their heroics which saved the life of former firefighter Hugh Herring. Pictured, from left, are Lt. Nate Barnes, firefighters Austin Carter and Milton Sessoms, Assistant Chief Chris Jackson, Fire Chief Lee Coleman, Herring and Roseboro Mayor Alice Butler. Not pictured is honoree Alan Sessoms.
                                 Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Roseboro firefighters were honored for their heroics which saved the life of former firefighter Hugh Herring. Pictured, from left, are Lt. Nate Barnes, firefighters Austin Carter and Milton Sessoms, Assistant Chief Chris Jackson, Fire Chief Lee Coleman, Herring and Roseboro Mayor Alice Butler. Not pictured is honoree Alan Sessoms.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Those inside the Roseboro town hall Tuesday night were beaming with pride as they got to witness their firefighters being honored by town board members for their recent heroics which saved the life of a former crewman.

On the night of Roseboro’s annual Christmas Parade, Hugh Herring, a former Roseboro firefighter, was helping his brothers wrap up after the festivities. What was a routine clean-up at the fire department that day turned grizzly when Herring collapsed due to cardiac arrest.

Fire crews on hand during the incident immediately went into action administering CPR. That quick response allowed them time to retrieve an AED defibrillator from a near fire truck to shock Herring, who momentarily died, back to life. The entire situation lasted only minutes but it gave EMS the window it needed to arrive on scene and escort Herring to the hospital.

It was those actions which got members of the fire department invited to the town board’s first meeting of the year, Tuesday. With that invitation was the awarding of plaques of honor presented by Roseboro Mayor Alice Butler on behalf of the board who noted that the honors were well deserved recognition.

“This award is presented in recognition of your courageous and life-saving actions at the Roseboro Fire Department on Dec. 13, 2024,” Butler read from the engraved words on each plague. “Your fast thinking and professional action are an inspiration to all.”

The six men who recieved the award were Lt. Nate Barnes, firefighters Austin Carter, Milton and Alan Sessoms, Assistant Chief Chris Jackson and Fire Chief Lee Coleman. Herring, who made a full recovery, was also in attendance to watch his heroes get honored and was even invited up, with the room erupting in cheers as their hometown heroes stood before them.

“Every single day, they are ready,” Butler said. “I’ll tell you, we moved them to the very beginning of the meeting tonight about six 6 p.m. I said to Tana (Faircloth, town clerk) move them to the first of the meeting, because guess where they’re going right after this? They’ve got to go to more training. They train all the time, so we had them at the beginning so they wouldn’t miss too much of their training. So with that said, thank you guys, we really appreciate all that you do.”

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