A man recognized for his heroic efforts is being rewarded with a bird's eye view of Chicago's skyline.
Jason Durbin, a Chicago firefighter-paramedic, has been honored as a Hometown Hero by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds after saving a woman's life during a fire in 2009, according to the Sun-Times.
Durbin had only been on the job 15 months when he happened to pass a flaming building at 1451 N. Sandburg Terrace while he was off duty on Dec. 13, 2009.
He learned that someone was still in the building after he had reported the fire, so he ran up 28 floors to rescue a woman and carried her all the way back down on piggyback.
After receiving the Carter Harrison Award in 2010 for saving the victim, Durbin entered a contest in April recognizing the city's Hometown Heroes and was chosen from three finalists to accompany the U.S. Air Force in an F-16 jet Aug. 18.
Durbin's flight has been scheduled just before Chicago's Air and Water Show Aug. 20-21.
