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2009 Acts of Courage
Recipients
Distinguished Honorees
Keith McVey (Barberton,
OH), a letter carrier for the Kenmore Post Office, was delivering mail
when he discovered a young girl struggling to stay afloat in nearby Nesmith
Lake. McVey jumped into the water to save her, using the skills he learned
in the boy Scouts 30 years earlier to save the girl's
life.
McKenna Fitzgerald
(3-year-old) saved her babysitter’s life, Sandra Beatty, when
her car rolled forward, pinning her against the garage wall. Fitzgerald got
out of her car seat, climbed to the front seat, turned off the car, found
Beattie’s cell phone in her purse and handed it to her. Beatty called
Fitzgerald’s grandmother, who then called 911.
Bill Dreyer (Cuyahoga Falls,
OH) donated blood for the first time in 1955 and has
donated 28 gallons of blood since. He also donates furniture and electronics to
International Services at Chapter and cash for Disaster
Relief.
George Gregory (Akron, OH)
volunteered to work with the Red Cross as part of his rehab program for a
work-related injury. As a result of volunteering, he returned to be a
regular donor of whole blood in addition to platelets. He continues to
volunteer and also recruited his wife, Ellen, to volunteer in the
office.
Dr. Kenneth Braman (Copley, OH) and Elena Gerin
(Copley, OH) helped save the life of 6-year-old Juliana Braman when she was found
unconscious at the bottom of the pool. After Braman was pulled from the
water, Gerin and Dr. Braman administered the abdominal thrusts and CPR to clear
the girl’s airway and restart her breathing and heartbeat.
Don Burroughs
, an off-duty firefighter and police officer, saw that his neighbor’s
house was on fire. He immediately alerted the fire department and then
entered the smoked filled house and helped his neighbor, David Messner, get to
safety.
James Miller (Akron, OH) and Jeffrey
Witt (Akron, OH), both
employees of InfoCision, rescued fellow InfoCision employee Marie Pack
from her van. Pack, who is paralyzed, was entering the van through a
wheelchair lift when an electrical malfunction set the passenger seat
ablaze. Miller and Witt pulled her safely out of the van.
Michael Vavro (Akron, OH), an off-duty Akron Police officer, was
working at Giant Eagle on Waterloo Road in Akron when he came across a woman who
was disoriented, sitting on the floor. Moments later, the women was completely
unconscious. Vavro checked to see if she was breathing, felt for a pulse and
called for an AED. Vavro used the Aed to administer a shock and then performed
CPR until paramedics arrived at the scene.
Robert Princic, Jr. (Stow, OH) and his father were doing their daily aquatic exercise session when his
father experienced a massive heart attack and became unresponsive. Princic
Jr. with the help of lifeguards Rachel Leahy (Twinsburg, OH),
Stephanie Surka (Aurora, OH), and Jordan Geraci
(Twinsburg, OH) pulled his father to out of the water. The lifeguards initiated
rescue breathing and CPR and called 911. After 10 attempts to revive Bob’s
father, their team work paid off. Princic Sr.’s heart began beating, his
eyes opened and he breathed on his own again.
Libby Fisher (Barberton, OH) and her long-time friend, Pat, had just returned from shopping, when
Pat’s husband Mike started going into total cardiac arrest. Libby used her
Red Cross training to do compressions until the paramedics arrived. Mike
was taken to the hospital where he eventually stabilized.
Glenn Lane
(10-year-old) and his friend Taylor decided to climb a
steep hill while camping. They began taking turns swinging out from the top
of the hill on a vine. Suddenly, the vine broke and Taylor toppled down the
hill. Lane put her over his shooulder and carried her back to camp. Taylor's
father then rushed her to the hospital.
Professional Honorees
Lt. John Shepherd (Akron, OH), a firefighter of the Akron Fire Departmentresponded to the scene of a car accident where the driver was trapped
inside the vehicle. Shepherd climbed into the car and used his body —
covered in protective fire gear — to shield the driver from the fire and heat
while they waited for the rescue equipment to arrive.
Officer Christopher Carson (Akron, OH) of the
Akron Police Department responded to a call regarding an unresponsive,
non-breathing 1-year-old child. Office Carson used his previous emergency
training to dislodge the airway obstruction and restart the baby's
breathing.
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