A firefighter received the state’s Medal of Valor Monday for intervening in an assault on a colleague. Alex Wallbrett came to the aid of coworker Ben Vernon June 24, 2015. The crew was treating a sick and drunk man in downtown San Diego, when a bystander began to stab Vernon repeatedly. The wounds left Vernon with a punctured lung and other injuries. Wallbrett jumped a fence and placed himself between the attacker, 34-year-old Ryan Allen Jones, and Vernon. As a result of wrestling Jones, Wallbrett sustained several stab wounds, including one dangerously close to his spine.