A Florida police corporal who was credited with saving a man’s life during the 2016 Pulse nightclub terrorist attack and now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder is reportedly being terminated from the force and taking a cut to his pension.
Cpl. Omar Delgado of the Eatonville Police Department was lauded as a hero for saving Angel Colon on the night of the Orlando nightclub shooting that left 49 people dead and dozens injured. He said witnessing the carnage that night left him with crippling PTSD, and he was later assigned to desk duty making $38,500 a year, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Eatonville Town Council members confirmed at a meeting late Tuesday that the department is dismissing Cpl. Delgado from the force at the end of the month. They won’t say why, but Cpl. Delgado said a doctor’s finding that PTSD makes him unfit to return to full duty played a role in his dismissal.
Six more months on the job would have allowed Cpl. Delgado, 45, to become vested in the pension system and collect 64 percent of his salary with benefits for life, the Sentinel reported. Instead, he will only receive 42 percent of his salary starting when he turns 55.
Cpl. Delgado said he feels betrayed the department.
“What do I do now? I’ve been an officer almost 10 years, and it’s all I’ve loved and known how to do, and now that it’s foreseen that I can’t do that anymore it’s a shock to me,” he told a local ABC affiliate.
“I guess I’m being punished, because I did cry for help,” he said.
The Sentinel reported that a Florida bill requiring coverage for mental health treatment in workers compensation insurance for first responders with PTSD advanced Tuesday in the state Senate.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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