‘My Guardian Angels’: Hazlet DPW Workers Get Mayoral Recognition After Saving Hurt Woman

HAZLET, NJ — Michael Armellino and Joseph Koisa said they were in the “right place at the right time” on Feb. 18 when they came across a woman in distress and then helped to save her life.

Armellino and Koisa, both employees of the Hazlet Department of Public Works (DPW), were going to fuel up their truck when they heard a car alarm going off nearby and saw an injured woman lying on the ground by Marsand Drive.

The two immediately turned around to help the woman and kept her conscious while waiting for police and first aid to arrive. While they may not have realized it in the moment, the two helped save her life.

“These two gentlemen are true heroes,” Hazlet Mayor Michael Sachs said of the pair during a Township Committee meeting Tuesday night. “I truly believe that if they didn’t stop their car and turn around, I don’t know if that woman would be here today.”

Armellino and Koisa were invited to Tuesday’s meeting to be presented with a Mayoral Recognition for their service.

Within the recognition, Sachs and Hazlet’s governing body praise the two for their “quick thinking, compassion, and lifesaving actions,” adding that the pair’s actions on Feb. 18 “went far beyond their daily job duties.”

“Their bravery and compassion reflect the very best of our community,” the recognition said. “And we commend them for their dedication.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the daughter of the woman Armellino and Koisa helped save was also in attendance.

She extended her, her mother’s and her family’s gratitude for their help, adding that due to the extent of her mother’s injuries, she may have bled to death without their assistance.

“We are more than thankful for you,” she said. “Everybody who comes in to see her [her mother], she goes ‘those are my guardian angels. Those are my heroes.’ Truly, thank you.”

Kenneth Kruk, the superintendent of Hazlet Public Works, also thanked Armellino and Koisa for “going above and beyond what is asked of them in their daily job duties,” and wished the woman “a full and speedy recovery” on behalf of the town.

After accepting their recognition, Armellino and Koisa spoke with Patch, saying they were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

“What they said in there, I mean it was just right place, right time,” Armellino said. “We thank God that he put us there.”

To read the full mayoral recognition from Hazlet Township, you can click here.

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