KAHULUI - Lawrence Crilley said it was something any firefighter would have done.
But others said his quick action helped save a man who was unconscious after hitting his head while diving off a rock at Tavares Bay in Kuau last year.
"If he hadn't have been there, there's no way I or anyone else would have been able to do it," said Crilley's wife, Marcy, a nurse who was at the beach with her husband that day. "He's done a lot of CPR. His experience made a huge difference."
During a ceremony Wednesday at the Kahului Fire Station, the Kihei firefighter became the first in Hawaii to win the Liberty Mutual Firemark Award. The award honors "the valor and selfless spirit of firefighters who take the ultimate risk to keep our communities safe."
"We're very honored to have one of our people recognized for what he's done," said Fire Chief Jeff Murray.
Crilley has been a firefighter for 24 years, including 15 years in New York and the past nine years at the Kihei Fire Station.
He was off duty on April 27, 2008, and had taken his 14-year-old son, Mack, and his friends to go surfing at the beach. Crilley was resting on the beach when a woman approached him to say a man in the water had been "swimming too long."
Crilley found the man lying facedown and unconscious in the water.
Crilley and others got the large man to shore, where the firefighter started efforts to revive him. Crilley said he began to notice a pulse before Paia firefighters arrived and took over.
"The doctor said he was a minute away from being brain damaged or not alive," Marcy Crilley said. "Unless it was somebody that really knew what he was doing, I don't think that guy would have made it."
A couple of months later, the 60-year-old man stopped by the Kihei Fire Station to thank Crilley.
"That was amazing," said Kihei fire Capt. Michael MacDougall, who also talked to the man.
"He was 100 percent back to normal. We had a great conversation. It's rare that you get that kind of feedback."
Leilani Johnson, a Liberty Mutual insurance agent who presented the award, said Crilley's name is on a perpetual plaque as the first Hawaii firefighter to receive the award.
"This award isn't about me," Lawrence Crilley said. "It's nothing anybody else wouldn't have done. I accept this award on behalf of all the firemen."
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.
