A Broward Sheriff’s Workplace (BSO) deputy is being acknowledged for extraordinary bravery after risking his life within the moments following a lethal helicopter crash in Pompano Seaside.
Throughout an emotional award ceremony held Thursday in Davie, BSO officers honored Deputy Mitchell Machado with the Medal of Honor—one of many company’s highest awards—for his selfless actions on August 28, 2023, the day Air Rescue 85 went down.
That morning, whereas monitoring site visitors on the intersection of Atlantic Boulevard and Dixie Freeway, Deputy Machado noticed thick black smoke trailing from an plane. With out hesitation, he alerted dispatch and raced to the scene, tossing down his motorbike and working towards the burning constructing.
“I bear in mind throwing my motorbike right down to the bottom and working in the direction of the constructing,” Machado recalled. “As I left [an adjacent] condominium, I faintly heard cries for assist.”
He tried to interrupt into the unit the place the cries got here from, however the impact-resistant home windows held agency. As he searched for an additional method in, the condominium exploded, knocking him again.
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Inside that unit had been Broward Sheriff Fireplace Rescue Battalion Chief Terryson Jackson and resident Laurean Wheaton. Each had been killed within the explosion.
“That’s robust to consider,” Machado stated, holding again emotion. “It’s exhausting to consider. And I’m sorry for them.”
Regardless of the blast, Deputy Machado continued serving to others evacuate as hearth and particles unfold by means of the world. His helmet was later discovered to have been struck by shrapnel, a visual reminder of how shut he got here to severe harm or worse.
“If not for the heroic motion of Deputy Machado and different deputies on scene that day, casualties would have been a lot increased,” his captain wrote within the official award nomination.
Throughout Thursday’s ceremony, never-before-seen physique digital camera footage of the chaotic and explosive moments was proven, highlighting simply how shut the deputy got here to shedding his life.
“It’s an honor, it’s a blessing to obtain this,” Machado stated. “However on the finish of the day, we had been simply doing our job.”
The tragedy claimed two lives, however because of Deputy Machado’s fast response, many others had been saved. His bravery stands as a strong reminder of the sacrifices first responders make every day—and their dedication to working towards hazard when others run away.
