On August 27, 2020 at approximately 2:30pm, Lawrence A. Chiulli was hiking on Bear Mountain with his girlfriend and her mother.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, a young child approaches Lawrence, his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s mother.

The boy shows Lawrence a picture of his relative, a 10 year old named Alejandro, and asks if any of them have seen him while hiking.

None of them have seen the boy, so Lawrence immediately jumps into action. He first sends his girlfriend and her mother down the mountain to look, and instructs them to call him if they found the boy.

Then, Lawrence has the boy bring him to the last point he saw Alejandro.

Quickly and safely, Lawrence and the relative trek down the mountain to Alejandro’s last known spot. While going down the mountain, Lawrence continuously checked that the boy with him was okay; constantly keeping him calm while gathering necessary information pertinent to the situation that would help him quickly and effectively find Alejandro safely.

Lawrence asks if he has a nickname, to which the relative responds “Ale”.

Lawrence and the relative call out the name while going down the mountain.

Then, Lawrence and the boy hear Ale: he was crying and hanging from the side of the mountain. Immediately,

Lawrence runs to where he is, tells him not to move, and calms him down. Lawrence then calls the Police, Fire Department and EMS, providing them with a description of why he is calling, efforts that are needed and a detailed location.

Lawrence asks the relative to stay put with his other relatives before scaling the side of the mountain and in order to make his way to Alejandro.

The climb was off trail and very steep with several loose rocks and boulders, but Lawrence knew that he had to quickly and efficiently climb to and help the boy. As he scaled, he called out, “Ale! Don’t move, Ale! You’re doing good, Ale! Let me hear your voice, Ale!”

Finally Lawrence is able to get close enough to help just as Alejandro starts to slip and fall off the mountain.

Lawrence Grabs Alejandro with his left arm, maintains balance with his right arm, and clutches onto the mountain with his right hand, causing a sharp rock to stab through Lawrence’s right palm.

Lawrence then turns Alejandro around, helping him to kick his legs up to maintain balance.

At this time, Lawrence is also maintaining balance while removing any moss, loose dirt, loose rocks or anything that would affect either of their footings. He then stamps and pushes the ground down to harden the area.

First responders arrive, and Lawrence informs them of all details pertinent to the situation. Lawrence continues to speak to Alejandro to help him remain calm and comfortable, while also encouraging him to know that he is capable of hanging on.

During this time, Lawrence also has Alejandro tell first responders everything they need to know, but while awaiting the Fire Department’s arrival, Alejandro’s legs, feet and ankles were burning, arms tired and body cramping. Alejandro was scared and confided in Lawrence that he had to move positions.

After devising a plan, Lawrence tells first responders that he will execute this plan with their approval. At this point, Lawrence asks Alejandro how much he weighs, he replies about “110-120”. Lawrence instructs Alejandro on everything he has to do to get him to a new location safely.

Alejandro informs Lawrence his legs are no longer working; he cannot feel them and cannot move them.

So Lawrence, while maintaining his own balance, picks up Alejandro, and then pushes his left leg in a safe place on a sapling and leans his bent right leg against the mountain.

He picks up Alejandro and places him on his right leg, in order to stretch out Alejandro’s legs and take away his pain.

Alejandro now, while resting his weight on Lawrence, is able to lean against the mountain safely due to Lawrence holding them both up.

The fire department then arrives, but due to the goat trail and location of the incident, it was not easily accessible.

Lawrence continues to hold himself and Ale up while waiting for the fire truck to make their way to the correct location..

Once the ladder was set up and the fireman operating it was coming through, Lawrence began assisting him with information on trees, branches, distance and any other blockades for the ladder to ensure they could reach him properly.

Once the ladder finally gets to them, Lawrence helps Alejandro safely get into the ladder bucket before climbing in himself. All while continuing to make sure Alejandro was comfortable, safe and calm.

The fireman instructs them that he is bringing them down to the street level. Once arriving on the street, EMS performs any medical checks needed, then cleans out the slice on Lawrence’s palm and checks out his leg that held him and Alejandro up for an hour.

Once they get the okay from EMS, Lawrence thanks the first responders. Alejandro’s family then thanks Lawrence immensely for saving Alejandro’s life before Lawrence gives a hug to Alejandro and says his goodbyes.