MIDDLETOWN, NY — On December 11, Garnet Health Medical Center was visited by Farmingdale School District leadership. The visit was an opportunity for Farmingdale School District representatives to come in person and thank the staff at Garnet Health for the outstanding care provided to Farmingdale students after the bus they were riding in on the way to a band camp was in a tragic accident on September 21, 2023. 

Paul Defendini, Farmingdale superintendent; Joanne Kelly, R.N., from Woodward Parkway Elementary School; and Jed Herman, Farmingdale High School principal, shared with staff the events that unfolded that terrible day. 

It was with heartfelt emotion that they stood in front of Garnet Health employees and thanked them for the care and compassion their students, staff and parents received at the medical center and other local hospitals after the accident. 

“You gave our kids back to us, and I know that it might be part of the routine in the course of your business, or you may think of it as you just wake up in the morning and set your alarm, and you come to work and you do your job,” said Defendini. “But I’m telling you that you are heroes in our eyes, and we’re forever thankful for what you did for us, and we just wanted to come here to tell you that.”

Their community and district family continue to heal, and they are forever grateful for the care received. 

Along with their gratitude—and hugs—they presented four boxes of thank-you letters addressed to Garnet Health Medical Center staff, which are currently being displayed in the hospital for all to read.  

“I just wanted to say thank you. You know, as Superintendent Defendini said, it might be a typical Thursday for you, but for us the level of care you showed was life-changing,” said Herman. “They say you’ve got to look for the silver linings; the silver linings are there are going to be 40 kids who wake up and choose to go into some sort of helping role because of the level of care that they received. So that could be firefighters, EMS workers, police officers, nurses, doctors—because to a child every single person talks about how the hospitals they spent time in, changed them, and helped them.

“From an outside perspective, this might be your typical day-to-day, but for me personally you have restored my faith in humanity, knowing there are people whose lives are dedicated to helping others and I will never be able to thank you, ever, for what you have done for us,” Herman added.

Contributed by Garnet Health Medical Center.