Phelps Elementary student names Agawam’s newest ambulance ‘St. Raphael’s Chariot’

Date: 6/26/2015

AGAWAM – The Agawam Fire Department revealed the name of its newest ambulance June 23 at Benjamin Phelps Elementary School. The ambulance has been named “St. Raphael’s Chariot.”

Jeymi Perez, a student at the school, was the winner of the naming contest between the fourth grade classrooms.

He and his foster mother Francine Esposito-Rossi started researching Greek gods and eventually came across the archangels. St. Raphael is the patron of the blind, nurses, physicians and medical workers.

Esposito-Rossi said she thought it was perfect, and Perez had his own reasons for agreeing.

“I said, God this is just like the EMTs. They’re the guardians, protectors, healers of human lives, and then Jeymi comes up and says, ‘Well, he’s a cool Ninja Turtle, too,’” Esposito-Rossi said.

Agawam Fire Chief Alan Sirois presented Perez with a certificate and commended Perez for his idea.

“We thought it was a pretty good idea, so we decided that St. Raphael needed a way to get around. We named it St. Raphael’s Chariot so St. Raphael could ride around in the ambulance with us,” Sirois said.

Perez said he was “very excited” his name was picked and he was honored by the Agawam Fire Department in front of his classmates.