In Lebanon firefighter Dave Smiley's darkest days, he's learned how much his local communities support their first responders.
A recently hired career firefighter with the Lebanon City Fire Department, Smiley, 23, volunteers in his off-hours as a live-in captain with the Minquas Fire Company in Delaware. On March 14, he was fighting a house fire in Mill Creek, Delaware, when he fell through the second story floor and suffered burns on 10 percent of his body, according to Facebook posts from his family and reported by Delaware Online.
Smiley was hospitalized at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, in Upland, Pennsylvania. He's still got a long way to go, according to his father, Dave Smiley Sr, including multiple surgeries - the first of which was scheduled for Tuesday.
Still, Smiley Jr. was thankful for outpouring of support he received - including a GoFundMe page set up by his family that has already raised almost $20,000.