Suffolk County Girl Scout receives national Medal of Honor for heroism
Ambassador Girl Scout Diana Hubschman, 17, a high school junior from Mastic Beach, was recently presented with the Medal of Honor by Girl Scouts of Suffolk County for her act of bravery that saved her mother’s life, during a special award ceremony. She is the only Suffolk County Girl Scout in recent memory to receive the prestigious national award.
Hubschman was recognized for her extraordinary actions during a family medical emergency, when her mother, Dawn, suffered a sudden and severe cluster of seizures at home earlier this year.
“She wasn’t responsive to me at all,” said Hubschman. “In between every seizure, instead of there being a break, it was continuous with muscle spasms in between. I knew something was very wrong.”
Hubschman immediately took control of the crisis by ensuring her grandfather, who was recovering from open-heart surgery, was safe, moving her mother away from danger, crating the family dog to avoid accidents, timing and monitoring her mother’s seizures, rolling her to her side to maintain an open airway and calling 911.
Hubschman coordinated with dispatchers, secured care for her grandfather, and insisted on riding in the ambulance so she could speak on her mother’s behalf when she was unable to do so. In total, her mother suffered 16 seizures and a stroke within 20 minutes. If not for Hubschman’s quick and calm actions, it is likely her mother would have died.
“Saying I am proud of her is not enough,” said her mother, Dawn Hubschman. “I’ve always told her she’s my guardian angel.”
The Medal of Honor is reserved for Girl Scouts who have demonstrated extraordinary heroism, saving or attempting to save a life while exemplifying the values of the Girl Scout Promise and Law.
“We are really thrilled to be able to bestow this,” said Tammy Severino, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. “Diana is a future leader and a person who is lighting the torch for future girls to say, ‘that’s who I want to be like.’”
