This Thursday, Oct. 18, the resolution will be adopted by the City Commission and Lake Mary Mayor Thomas Greene at their regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Hall.
The resolution recalls July 10 when at about 8:40 a.m., a small plane crashed into The Preserve at Lake Monroe. Cooper and his wife, Karen, were in their driveway not far away when the crash occured.
The story of Cooper’s rescue of Peter Dechat and his 10-year-old stepson Daniel Happy, both badly burned, reached around the world.
He told reporters that his minor health problems were nothing compared with the families impacted by the crash.
Cooper has been involved in several fund-raisers for the families since the crash. He has also returned to work.
He has worked for the Lake Mary Fire Department since July 5, 2001. Now he works at Station 37 in Lake Mary.
“Firefighter/Paramedic Cooper assessed the scene and determined that there were probably people inside both structures,” the resolution reads. The plane hit two homes.
“Firefighter/Paramedic Cooper, without hesitation or concern for his personal safety, entered both houses multiple times rescuing two people from one of the homes and then returned to continue to look for more survivors,” the resolution reads.
Five people died in the plane crash: Dr. Bruce Kennedy, 54, and Michael Klemm, 56 (both on the plane); Gabriela Dechat, 4; Janice Joseph, 24; and her son, Josiah, 6 months.
The Coopers helped survivors as emergency units arrived at the scene.