Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery (2014)
Michael DeSousa
This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which at least 206 people with ties to Massachusetts perished. The first flights to be hijacked took off from Boston Logan International Airport. Madeline “Amy” Sweeney, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, displayed extraordinary cool under extreme pressure during the hijacking. The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund Blog is profiling the Sweeney Award recipients for the past quarter century every week leading up to the naming of the 2026 Honoree(s) at the 25th Anniversary Commemoration on September 11th.
Man saves apartment residents from destructive fire in Fall River
While stopped at a Fall River intersection on July 6, 2013, Michael DeSousa saw flames coming from the Sagres restaurant. DeSousa, 39, pounded on the windows to alert the owner of Fall River’s first Portuguese restaurant to the fire.
DeSousa then kicked open a street-level door that led into a hallway. The first apartment door he knocked on was answered by a child. DeSousa alerted her parents and helped the girl make her way to safety.
He returned to the building to alert other tenants. DeSousa then found an elderly resident. “She said to me, ‘Don’t rob me. I don’t have any money,’ in Portuguese.”
DeSousa spoke – first in English and then in her native Portuguese – to calm her before lifting her up and carrying her to safety. It was then, he said, that the woman kissed his cheek and thanked him.
DeSousa continued to notify residents in a neighboring building that they were in danger and should evacuate. The electrical fire destroyed Sagres and displaced 13 tenants in eight apartments, but there were no fatalities.
Asked why he did it, DeSousa told The Herald News, “To be honest, I don’t know. I’m a father. And if that was my home, I’d have appreciated someone saving my family.”
Rep. Carole Fiola of Fall River nominated DeSousa for the Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery.
"To risk one's own health in an effort to help others in the midst of danger is a testament to the human spirit," said Fiola. "Michael DeSousa is a paragon of that spirit. His resolve and determination to rescue individuals from a burning building is a commendable act of bravery, and his actions make him an exemplary resident of Fall River.”
“Several lives were saved because Michael DeSousa put the safety of others ahead of his own,” said Gov. Deval Patrick. “That same selfless disregard for personal danger Madeline Amy Sweeney displayed 13 years ago is what we honor today.”
Next week: Livery driver assists Massachusetts State Troopers to stop kidnapper