WAXHAW, NC – John Groggel has the best story of why he became a firefighter. At sixteen he had no intentions of joining the fire service, but when he went to get his driver’s license, there was that little caveat that states a driver with a provisional license “may drive without a supervising driver when driving to and from an activity of a volunteer fire department, rescue squad, or emergency medical services, if the driver is a member.” That one sentence prompted John to take Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) classes. He then joined Wesley Chapel Fire Department since he had a friend that was already there.

As a pre-med student, John felt that holding his EMT certification was good, but he still wanted to better serve his community so he continued his studies and added on certification of NC Firefighter. In addition to fighting fires and medical attention, John is also fluent in Spanish and has done volunteer work in the inner city. 

John is an accomplished musician and plays the violin, piano, and sings. He is also the church pianist at Resurrection Church in Matthews. John loves to work out, do gymnastics, snowboard, and play tennis.

John’s love of snowboarding leads to his favorite place to visit in the United States being Park City, Utah.  He also loves to travel outside the United States and his favorite vacation spot is Spain which may account for his love of tamales. 

John is very early in his medical studies but hopes to be a future surgeon or emergency physician. Either way, if you are in need of medical attention you are in good hands if he is the EMT answering your call.

John’s Community Tip – Be careful when burning in your yard…..even your backyard firepit can get out of hand when the sparks fly.