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EVERYDAY HEROES BREAKFAST DECEMBER 7, 2006
The American
Red Cross Serving King & Kitsap Counties honored 13 individuals
for their heroic acts and commitment to the community last December.
From the three strangers that performed CPR on a collapsed man to the
seven-year-old boy who helped his mother during a diabetic emergency, the
Eleventh Annual Red Cross Heroes Breakfast sponsored by The Boeing
Company, honored them all.
The event
ended with a speech by Tammy Kaiser, a Red Cross volunteer and Jewish
Federation employee, who stressed the importance of the Red Cross in our
community and how it can save lives. All donations received at the
breakfast help your local Red Cross prevent, prepare for and respond to
disasters in the community.
View photos of the event.

The
Stories:
Adult Good
Samaritan
Sponsor: Puget Sound Energy
For Larry Glenn, three
complete strangers made the difference between life and death.
One day this past summer
while jogging along Soos Creek Trail in Kent, Larry suddenly collapsed from
cardiac arrest. As Rebecca Ashmead
jogged by, someone called out her attention to Larry. She went over and saw Larry lying on the
ground. His head cut and arms
bruised, the man didn’t appear to be breathing. As Rebecca checked Larry’s pulse, Linda
Roundtree and Perry Doles arrived.
Without hesitation the three
heroes jumped into action. Linda
Roundtree, Rebecca Ashmead began CPR and Perry Doles rushed off to find a phone
to call 9-1-1. Because of the
trail’s difficult landscape, the paramedics had a hard time locating the
foursome. As minutes ticked by, the
group refused to give up and continued taking turns giving Larry rescue breaths
and chest compressions. After 20
minutes, the paramedics finally arrived and successfully re-started Larry’s
heart with an automated external defibrillator.
Thanks to the courage and
quick-thinking of Linda, Rebecca and Perry, along with the paramedics, Larry
made a full recovery and is doing well.
“I will never forget them,”
Larry remarked. “They will always
be my heroes.”
Call to
Action
Sponsor: Physio Control (formerly
Medtronic)
Laurie and John Macartney
and their friend Kathleen decided to spend an afternoon at Crystal Mountain. John and Kathleen are both very
experienced skiers and John was going to show Kathleen some new techniques. Laurie skied down first. Minutes later
Kathleen and John followed.
As John skied along, he
noticed a ski sticking out of the snow.
John’s 37 years of ski patrol experience told him that someone was
trapped in a tree well. After
seeing the ski wiggle a little, he hurried toward the trapped skier and yelled
for help. John knew that he needed
help in pulling the skier out of the snow and called to Steven Swanson. After numerous times pulling, John and
Steve were able to free the skier from the snow.
As they turned the person
over, John was shocked to discover that the trapped skier was his wife
Laurie.
“John never hesitated even
when he realized it was Laurie,” Kathleen remembers.
Immediately John began
administering CPR. Laurie’s jaw was
clamped shut, so John did mouth to nose resuscitation. After about a minute and a half, ski
patrol arrived and took her to the bottom of the mountain. From
there, Laurie was sent to the
Fortunately, Laurie recovered in time to watch her son
perform on the US Ski Team in the 2006 Olympics.
Medical
Sponsor: Overlake Hospital Center
Dr. Kalman Klass is a
Seattle dentist who dedicates his free time to volunteering in the community by
providing free dental care, both locally and internationally, to people who do
not have access to it.
In his dental clinic in
Seattle
, Dr.
Klass dedicates each Tuesday afternoon to providing dental care at no charge to
welfare recipients and to people who cannot afford dental care.
Dr. Klass also has been
involved in the SmileMobile since its inception in 1995. The Smile Mobile is a
program that provides dental care in a mobile clinic at little to no cost to
patients. Each year Dr. Klass spends a week on the SmileMobile treating patients
in mostly rural areas of Washington .
In addition to volunteering
his time and his dentistry skills locally, Dr. Klass has traveled to
Jerusalem,
Israel to volunteer his services with the group
Dental Volunteers for
Israel
, which provides free dental
care for children. The clinic in
Israel
typically sees 100 children per day, all from diverse
backgrounds and ethnicities.
“He’s definitely a hero to
us here at the SmileMobile,” said Monika Foro from the Smilemobile.
Nature
Rescue
Sponsor: US Bank
A hot summer day nearly
turned tragic for 13-year-old Natalie Kerns when she went out on a recreational
raft with a friend near Vashon Island. When she tried to paddle back to
shore, a current overcame her causing her to lose her raft. Stranded, Natalie started yelling for
help.
Several minutes later a
firefighter arrived, saw Natalie and approached David Templeton to borrow his
life-jacket. David offered to use
his windsurfing board to get Natalie himself. A skilled windsurfer, David reached
Natalie in no time. After spending
nearly 30 minutes afloat by herself, Natalie was extremely cold and tired. David gave her his life jacket and helped calm her
down before the two began paddling back to shore.
Unfortunately, the current
and wind were extremely strong. David and Natalie struggled for nearly 45
minutes to paddle ashore. Finally,
the Coast Guard arrived and brought everyone safely to shore. Natalie was cold and exhausted, but
alive.
Natalie’s mom Debbie sums
David’s actions up best. “Anyone that’s going to put themselves out there to
make a difference and help is a hero. And he did make a difference that day for
Natalie.”
Police
Rescue
Sponsor: PEMCO Insurance
Jeri Ginnaty and his friend
went to meet his wife Mary at 4th and Pine for lunch. As Mary walked toward them, Jeri took a
step forward, clutched his chest, and fell to the ground. At first they thought he was kidding
around, but quickly realized that something was very wrong. His
friend called 9-1-1 and ran for help, while Mary tended to her husband lying on
the ground.
Meanwhile, Officer Glen Cook
and Sergeant Paul Kloss had just finished meeting for coffee. They were a block away from the scene
and about to leave when a man ran up and told them that a person had just fallen
down and was not breathing.
Sgt. Kloss and Officer Cook
ran to Jeri and immediately took action.
Sgt. Kloss did chest compressions while Officer Cook did the
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and eventually Jeri started breathing. Shortly
after the paramedics arrived and took Jeri to the hospital.
Once Jeri started feeling
better, he and his wife had breakfast with Officer Cook and Sgt. Kloss to
express their gratitude.
“They made a huge difference
in my life and I wanted Officer Cook and Sgt. Kloss to know how truly grateful I
am” Jeri said.
Compassion in
Action
Sponsor: Deloitte
“I have no question in my
mind that he saved lives that night, “says Auburn Fire Battalion Chief Tim Day
about Edward Marsette. Just before 1 a.m. on a rainy, windy
night, Edward and his wife Annette awoke to a loud crashing sound. While his
wife called 9-1-1, Edward ran outside to find a car turned upside down and
engulfed in flames.
Edward ran over to help a
screaming teenager who crawled out of the car.
The boy’s clothes aflame, Edward made him stop, drop and roll as he
patted out the flames. Edward heard
more screams from the burning car.
With no regard for his own safety, he got down on his hands and knees,
reached into the burning vehicle and one by one pulled three more teenagers to
safety and patted out the flames on their hair and clothes. He was not able to reach the other two
boys.
By the time the firefighters,
police and paramedics arrived, Edward helped rescue four of the six boys who
were trapped in the burning car.
Edward’s hands, arms and legs were badly
burned, but he insisted that the teens get treated first. Thanks to Edward’s heroic actions, four
of six boy’s lives were saved.
Commitment to
Community
Sponsor: The Boeing Company
Tukwila Fire Lt. Peter
Wojcik shares his life and heart with a very special group of kids. For each of the past eight summers, he
has given up one week of his vacation to provide support to the dozens of young
burn survivors who attend Camp
Eyabsut in North Bend , Washington .
As a camp counselor, Peter
helps the kids with art and crafts projects, music, sporting events, campfires
and other activities that help install confidence and hope in these young
survivors---many whom live with both physical and psychological pain.
His compassion and warmth
enable the kids to let their guard down and be themselves. He makes them feel comfortable in their
own skin, which can be a real challenge for the campers. According to camp executive director Nancy
Mendoza, “Peter is someone the kids can trust.”
Youth Good
Samaritan
Sponsor: Costco
Danielle Williams, Isaiah’s
mother, woke up in the middle of the night unable to move or speak. She tried to call out to her son, but
all she could make were noises.
Isaiah woke up and could see his mother needed help. He ran to the living room and used his mom’s
cell phone to call his father. No
one answered.
Danielle could hear Isaiah,
but couldn’t communicate with him.
She has been diabetic for 23 years and this was the first time she
couldn’t speak or move. After the
phone calls failed, Isaiah brought her a glass of milk, but she was unable to
drink it. He then determined it was
time to call 9-1-1.
“Once I heard him talking to
the 9-1-1 dispatcher, I knew everything was going to be okay,” Danielle
said.
Just seven-years-old, Isaiah
told the dispatcher that they lived in the Lake Meridian area and the name of their
apartment building and number. Then
he waited by the window looking for the firemen to arrive.
When the firefighters
arrived they heard, “Hi guys!” from the window and Isaiah let them in the
apartment. He was able to tell them
that his mom’s sugar levels were low and then made his mom a sandwich. Firefighter Art Weichbrodt said he was impressed and touched by Isaiah’s
composure and exceptional demeanor during the emergency.
“He saved my life,” Danielle
said. “The
next day I just could not stop hugging him!”
Workplace
Safety
Sponsor: Weyerhaeuser Company
Halfway through a routine
20-minute run on the Leota Junior High outdoor track, ninth-grader Chris
Giovannetti began experiencing dizziness and chest pains. Within moments
he passed out, stopped breathing and had a seizure.
While stunned students stood
by, fitness teacher Melissa Barnum quickly took control of the situation. Recalling her American Red Cross CPR
training, she checked Chris’s breathing and pulse and had one of the students
get help while another ran to get the AED (automated external defibrillator).
Melissa performed three to four CPR rescue breaths. Fortunately, this triggered a reaction
from Chris and helped him to breathe on his own again. The paramedics arrived shortly afterwards and
took over.
After this episode, Chris’s
doctors implanted a heart monitor under his skin. Today, Chris is doing great.Chris and his family are
very grateful for Melissa and her life-saving CPR training. “Melissa epitomizes what it means to be
a hero at work in my eyes. She knew
exactly what to do and did it,” said Valentina Giovannetti, Chris’s
mother. |