'Heroes' to be honored at Red Cross breakfast
Paper: Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT)
Title: 'Heroes' to be honored at Red Cross breakfast
Author: STEVEN ANDREWS
Date: March 27, 2005
Chuck Kennedy was returning home from a business dinner last November when he saw a car smashed into a tree off Madison Avenue in Trumbull, its driver slumped over the wheel as smoke and fire billowed from the engine.
Other drivers had pulled over to gawk at the wreck, frozen by fear and morbid curiosity. But Kennedy pulled his car to the side of the road and jumped out, rushing to the aid of the injured motorist.
Because of his quick actions, Kennedy, along with the help of fellow Trumbull resident Joseph Miele, was able to free 17-year-old David Axelrod, trapped in the driver's seat and suffering from severe injuries. Moments after the men helped pull Axelrod from the wreckage, the driver's side of the vehicle burst into flames, melting the steering wheel and the seat.
"When I first got there, people were just standing around the car, 15 feet away, while the engine was on fire, watching it like a bonfire," recalled Kennedy. "That's what shocked me the most, that people were just standing there watching."
Kennedy, Miele and more than a dozen other Fairfield County residents will be recognized for their bravery and community service on Thursday when the Southeastern Fairfield County chapter of the American Red Cross holds its fifth annual "Heroes" breakfast program. Proceeds from the breakfast will benefit Red Cross programs and services.
"It's a very humbling experience to get an honor like this," said Kennedy, who along with Miele will be given one of the Good Samaritan awards. "That's the most important part of this breakfast, to bring awareness to the community about helping others."
Brandon Roy, a 20-year-old from Easton, is also being honored with a Good Samaritan award.
In July, he was relaxing with friends in a boat on Candlewood Lake when he heard yelling nearby. It turned out that the group was trying to find their friend, who had dived into the water but did not resurface.
"No one knew exactly where he had gone down, so there was just a circle of six or eight of us diving and trying to find him," Roy said. His first dive yielded nothing because of the water's darkness. On his second attempt, Roy was overwhelmed by the cold and again could not reach the bottom of the lake.
"The third time I went down there, I felt his leg," said Roy. "I was able to grab him around the arm and neck and take him back up. He was down there for probably two minutes."
Roy's persistence in making the rescue is credited with saving the life of the swimmer, Robert Carr, a Yale University student.
Despite being scared initially, Roy said he wouldn't hesitate doing the same thing again, since it's "just something you have to do."
"We are thrilled to be saluting men and women from our community whose extraordinary acts of courage and kindness make them local heroes," said Dianne Auger, executive director of the Southeastern Fairfield County chapter of the American Red Cross.
In addition to giving awards to local good Samaritans who helped out in unexpected circumstances, the Red Cross is also honoring firefighters, law-enforcement officers and military personnel. Richard Carlson, a Trumbull police officer, will be honored for helping a family of six escape from a burning house on White Plains Road in February 2004.
"I was driving around on patrol at about 1 a.m. when I smelled smoke," he said. "I found the house where it was coming from and saw that it was on fire."
Carlson rushed to the house and was able to wake up one of the occupants and then entered. He then went through the burning house and made sure that everyone else woke up and escaped to safety from the blaze.
All six people were uninjured.
Carlson said he's honored to receive the award, and though the fire rescue was no routine matter, he said doesn't consider it to be extraordinary.
"Basically, I was just doing my job," said Carlson, the recipients of the Law Enforcement Award. "I'm just really happy that everyone got out in time."
First Lt. David Myers of Fairfield, a Marine deployed to Iraq, will be given the Red Cross' Military Award for his work in Fallujah, where he led a platoon. While clearing a supply route, Myers spotted an explosive device moments before it detonated. He was able to take cover and suffered only minor injuries, spending two weeks in the hospital. Myers has now resumed command of his platoon.
Two special awards will be presented to the families of two soldiers from the area who were killed during the last year in Iraq: Army Specialist Tyanna Avery-Felder of Bridgeport and Marine Corporal Kevin Dempsey of Monroe. While each of the award recipients will surely be pleased with the citation, Kennedy feels the Heroes event signifies much more.
"Even though that crash happened several months ago, it's still a very vivid memory," he said. "Recently, David came over to the house, and to see him walking and talking and healthy, that's really my greatest reward."
Others who will be honored at the event are:
-Fairfield firefighters Lt. Patrick Barry, Justin Greenhaw and William Tuttle will receive the Firefighter Award for delivering a baby boy last June.
-The Good Samaritan Award also will be given to Frances Festa and Jean Cass for administering emergency medical treatment to a stricken man in a Fairfield church.
-The Tiger Team Students from Stratford's Wooster Middle School will receive the Good Samaritan Youth Award for collecting goods for the homeless, sending cards to the military overseas and putting together gift bags to cancer patients.
-Receiving the Community Impact Award will be Suzanne Bates, Joanny Bauer, Alice Berry, Gretchen Saccone and Jami Whiteman, volunteer parent advisers at Jockey Hollow Middle School in Monroe, who helped organize students to send packages to troops in Iraq, work in a soup kitchen and collect goods for the homeless, and visit nursing homes.
The Heroes of Southeastern Fairfield County Breakfast will take place at 7:30 a.m. Thursday in the Trumbull Marriott hotel on Hawley Lane in Trumbull. Reservations for the event are required and can be made by calling the Red Cross office at 576-1010. There is a required donation of $20 per person to attend.
(c) 2005 The Connecticut Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
Author: STEVEN ANDREWS
Title: 'Heroes' to be honored at Red Cross breakfast
Author: STEVEN ANDREWS
Date: March 27, 2005
Chuck Kennedy was returning home from a business dinner last November when he saw a car smashed into a tree off Madison Avenue in Trumbull, its driver slumped over the wheel as smoke and fire billowed from the engine.
Other drivers had pulled over to gawk at the wreck, frozen by fear and morbid curiosity. But Kennedy pulled his car to the side of the road and jumped out, rushing to the aid of the injured motorist.
Because of his quick actions, Kennedy, along with the help of fellow Trumbull resident Joseph Miele, was able to free 17-year-old David Axelrod, trapped in the driver's seat and suffering from severe injuries. Moments after the men helped pull Axelrod from the wreckage, the driver's side of the vehicle burst into flames, melting the steering wheel and the seat.
"When I first got there, people were just standing around the car, 15 feet away, while the engine was on fire, watching it like a bonfire," recalled Kennedy. "That's what shocked me the most, that people were just standing there watching."
Kennedy, Miele and more than a dozen other Fairfield County residents will be recognized for their bravery and community service on Thursday when the Southeastern Fairfield County chapter of the American Red Cross holds its fifth annual "Heroes" breakfast program. Proceeds from the breakfast will benefit Red Cross programs and services.
"It's a very humbling experience to get an honor like this," said Kennedy, who along with Miele will be given one of the Good Samaritan awards. "That's the most important part of this breakfast, to bring awareness to the community about helping others."
Brandon Roy, a 20-year-old from Easton, is also being honored with a Good Samaritan award.
In July, he was relaxing with friends in a boat on Candlewood Lake when he heard yelling nearby. It turned out that the group was trying to find their friend, who had dived into the water but did not resurface.
"No one knew exactly where he had gone down, so there was just a circle of six or eight of us diving and trying to find him," Roy said. His first dive yielded nothing because of the water's darkness. On his second attempt, Roy was overwhelmed by the cold and again could not reach the bottom of the lake.
"The third time I went down there, I felt his leg," said Roy. "I was able to grab him around the arm and neck and take him back up. He was down there for probably two minutes."
Roy's persistence in making the rescue is credited with saving the life of the swimmer, Robert Carr, a Yale University student.
Despite being scared initially, Roy said he wouldn't hesitate doing the same thing again, since it's "just something you have to do."
"We are thrilled to be saluting men and women from our community whose extraordinary acts of courage and kindness make them local heroes," said Dianne Auger, executive director of the Southeastern Fairfield County chapter of the American Red Cross.
In addition to giving awards to local good Samaritans who helped out in unexpected circumstances, the Red Cross is also honoring firefighters, law-enforcement officers and military personnel. Richard Carlson, a Trumbull police officer, will be honored for helping a family of six escape from a burning house on White Plains Road in February 2004.
"I was driving around on patrol at about 1 a.m. when I smelled smoke," he said. "I found the house where it was coming from and saw that it was on fire."
Carlson rushed to the house and was able to wake up one of the occupants and then entered. He then went through the burning house and made sure that everyone else woke up and escaped to safety from the blaze.
All six people were uninjured.
Carlson said he's honored to receive the award, and though the fire rescue was no routine matter, he said doesn't consider it to be extraordinary.
"Basically, I was just doing my job," said Carlson, the recipients of the Law Enforcement Award. "I'm just really happy that everyone got out in time."
First Lt. David Myers of Fairfield, a Marine deployed to Iraq, will be given the Red Cross' Military Award for his work in Fallujah, where he led a platoon. While clearing a supply route, Myers spotted an explosive device moments before it detonated. He was able to take cover and suffered only minor injuries, spending two weeks in the hospital. Myers has now resumed command of his platoon.
Two special awards will be presented to the families of two soldiers from the area who were killed during the last year in Iraq: Army Specialist Tyanna Avery-Felder of Bridgeport and Marine Corporal Kevin Dempsey of Monroe. While each of the award recipients will surely be pleased with the citation, Kennedy feels the Heroes event signifies much more.
"Even though that crash happened several months ago, it's still a very vivid memory," he said. "Recently, David came over to the house, and to see him walking and talking and healthy, that's really my greatest reward."
Others who will be honored at the event are:
-Fairfield firefighters Lt. Patrick Barry, Justin Greenhaw and William Tuttle will receive the Firefighter Award for delivering a baby boy last June.
-The Good Samaritan Award also will be given to Frances Festa and Jean Cass for administering emergency medical treatment to a stricken man in a Fairfield church.
-The Tiger Team Students from Stratford's Wooster Middle School will receive the Good Samaritan Youth Award for collecting goods for the homeless, sending cards to the military overseas and putting together gift bags to cancer patients.
-Receiving the Community Impact Award will be Suzanne Bates, Joanny Bauer, Alice Berry, Gretchen Saccone and Jami Whiteman, volunteer parent advisers at Jockey Hollow Middle School in Monroe, who helped organize students to send packages to troops in Iraq, work in a soup kitchen and collect goods for the homeless, and visit nursing homes.
The Heroes of Southeastern Fairfield County Breakfast will take place at 7:30 a.m. Thursday in the Trumbull Marriott hotel on Hawley Lane in Trumbull. Reservations for the event are required and can be made by calling the Red Cross office at 576-1010. There is a required donation of $20 per person to attend.
(c) 2005 The Connecticut Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
Author: STEVEN ANDREWS
posted by Steven Andrews at
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