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It was an honor he’d been patiently waiting for. The FDNY — in an emotional ceremony Thursday — promoted firefighter Mark Dziemian, who has been hospitalized since suffering cardiac arrest
while responding to a two-alarm fire in Brooklyn on March 16. Dziemian’s wife, Jackee, and their two children accepted the promotion to lieutenant on his behalf in a ceremony at the College
of Staten Island. She said it was a moment her husband had been counting down to. “Mark has been looking forward to this for so long,” Jackee said. “He took the test in 2022, and becoming a
lieutenant meant so much to him. EXPLORE MORE “It was really touching to look around the room to see FDNY firefighters and their families feeling what we’re going through,” she said. FDNY
Commissioner Robert Tucker told The Post he was “very emotional” during the event, adding that Dziemian was due for the title change. “This was a civil service promotion, and there was no
question in my mind that we wanted to promote him when we reached his number, and the mayor was incredibly supportive of that as well,” Tucker said. Dziemian’s wife and children, Sophia, 4
years old, and Michael, 8 months, received a long standing ovation as they walked across the stage to accept his new rank. “I’d be surprised if there were a dry eye in that room that was
filled with a lot of tough people,” Tucker said. “It was exactly how I wanted his wife and family to see how we feel about her, her family, and Mark.” During his career, Dziemian has served
the FDNY in various capacities, including representing the department in the ceremonial unit at funerals, flag raisings, and other formal events. Tucker said Dziemian’s friends and coworkers
have been a constant source of support for his family since his medical emergency. “Anytime a firefighter or EMT or a paramedic or frankly anybody in the FDNY gets injured in the line of
duty, it is a profound event,” Tucker said. “It is something that we all respond to.” Dziemian, who works out of Engine 217 in Bushwick, grew up in Maspeth, Queens, attended St. Adalbert
Elementary School in Elmhurst, Queens, played multiple sports at Xavier High School and studied theater and visual arts at Fordham University. He followed in the footsteps of his cousin,
Walter, and became an EMT. A chance meeting with former Assistant Commissioner of Communications Stephen Gregory inspired him to join the FDNY. “Mark is an exemplary firefighter that I
considered like a fourth son,” said Gregory, whose family has four generations on the job. “I had my dad’s lieutenant’s badge put aside for Mark so that he will receive badge #1207.” A proud
Polish American, Dziemian is the president of the FDNY’s Pulaski Association, a charitable organization of firefighters with Polish and other Slavic roots. On March 1, two weeks before
Dziemian’s injury, he was proud to report that the Pulaski Association’s annual dinner dance raised $1,500 for the Children’s Smile Foundation, which helps kids in need, as well as $5,000
for the NYC Firefighters Burn Center Foundation, which sends childhood burn victims to summer camp. Dziemian – a Middle Village resident who turned 41 years old in the hospital on March 29 –
encouraged his lifelong friend, Mariusz Jastrzebski, who owns Syrena Bakery in Greenpoint, to sponsor the Pulaski Association. “Being Polish American with parents who came from Poland, he
wanted to use his heritage and being a firefighter for good in the community,” Jastrzebski said. “Now, I’m in awe of how the FDNY and the community have stepped up for his family.” Dziemian
was taken to Wycoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick immediately after the cardiac incident but was transferred to Lenox Hill that same night. After relocating again to North Shore
University Hospital on Long Island, Dziemian is “fighting to recover” at the Rusk Rehabilitation Center in Manhattan, where his wife is driven daily by FDNY members. As Dziemian battled his
injuries, his mother, Agnes, succumbed to cancer on March 27. His father, Eugene, passed away in March 1998. Jackee Dziemian says it’s hard to describe the outpouring of support from the
FDNY Family Assistance Unit, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, and the medical teams caring for her husband. On Saturday, friends, family and fellow firefighters watched as the FDNY
Marine Unit paid tribute to Dziemian with a water demonstration of boats along the East River. More than 615 tickets have been sold for a “tailgate benefit” scheduled for before the Mets
game on June 11 at Citi Field. A GoFundMe page started to help ease the financial strain on Dziemian’s family raised nearly $50,000 in two days. “This is who Mark is,” Jackee Dziemian said.
“If this happened to anybody else, he’d be out there supporting them.”