Cody Pacheco

Six-year-old Cody and his father Glenn were shushing down the slopes at Sunrise Park Ski Resort. As he cut into the slope, Glenn glanced back at Cody and accidentally crossed his skis; the skis stopped, Glenn didn't. He flipped headlong into the slope and sprawled where he lay, unconscious. Cody raced up. He knew he had to get help. The week before, the Red Cross had come to Cody's elementary school and taught his class first aid, and Cody remembered what to do. The triage tent was at the bottom of the mountain, and Cody removed his skis, charged down the slope and found the ski patrol, who sprang into action. They took Glenn to the hospital and kept him overnight for observation, and he was discharged in good health the following day. Glenn is thankful for Cody's ability to keep his head and get help. He says, “Never underestimate what your children are capable of.”

Sam Gelardi

At a baseball game in June, Jonathan Ambriz was standing in the outfield eating sunflower seeds. The pitcher wound up and delivered. Crack! A fly ball. Jonathan followed the arc of the ball into the cloudless blue sky. It was his play! He ran underneath the pop-up and dove for it, but just as he reached the ball, Jonathan's teammate reached him. They collided and splayed out on the field. Coach Sam Gelardi ran across the diamond immediately to see if his players were all right. Jonathan sat up, took one deep breath and then stopped breathing altogether. The sunflower seeds he had been eating were lodged in his throat. Coach Gelardi cleared the seeds from his player's mouth but the boy only got worse. His heart stopped! Coach began CPR and continued CPR until paramedics arrived to re-start Jonathan's heart with a defibrillator, and he was airlifted to UMC. Jonathan has made a full recovery, thanks to Coach Gelardi's quick action: without CPR, Jonathan would have died. As an athletic coach, Gelardi re-certifies each year in CPR, and Jonathan Ambriz is alive today because of it.
 >> Read about Coach Gelardi on KOLD.

Daniel Hoback, Carlos Franco, & Carlos Monteverde

In July 2008, Tohono O'Odham Police Officer Nicholas Romero was on duty driving north on I-19. Suddenly, he was going the wrong direction. Romero was the victim of a hit and run, and his car came to a stop in the road and burst into flames. Daniel Hoback was driving by when it happened, and he pulled over and ran to the vehicle. Carlos Franco, an Arizona Stagecoach driver, and Carlos Monteverde also came upon the scene, they all helped Daniel pull Officer Romero from the burning car through the driver side window. Carlos Franco administered first aid while Daniel communicated with emergency personnel. Carlos Monteverde relieved Carlos Franco and administered first aid to Officer Romero until medics arrived. Believe it or not, Carlos Franco was still able to get his passengers to Tucson International Airport and to their flights on time! Officer Romero survived because of their efforts, and he continues to recover today.
 >> Read about Officer Romero's rescue in the Arizona Daily Star and KOLD.

Clayton Trevillyan

On March 27th, Clayton was walking near the train tracks, and a bicyclist approached and asked him to call for help. The bicyclist said she had found a man lying on the ground bleeding near the tracks. She thought he had been hit by a train. Clayton dialed 911 and ran to the man. He quickly assessed the situation and applied a tourniquet to the victim's leg to stop its bleeding. He kept the man on the ground, applying pressure to his wound and comforting him until paramedics arrived.

Tuffy

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night to a dog barking? You know—that annoying “yap yap yap yap yap” from somewhere down the street, some dog just barking and barking and won't be quiet, and you're lying there thinking, “I've gotta get up soon, I've got a meeting in the morning, I'm never going to get back to sleep, this is a nightmare!” Well, the next time you hear that bark in the middle of the night, you should think of Tuffy. Tuffy is the Bishop family's terrier, and he saved their lives one night by barking and barking. The Bishop family was painting their home and had removed their smoke alarm while the paint dried. As fate would have it, on that very day their house caught fire. No fire alarm? No problem—Tuffy was on the scene! At two o'clock in the morning, when he realized that something wasn't right, he barked and barked and didn't stop until his owners woke up. The Bishops stumbled into the kitchen and saw the fire, and they quickly evacuated their home and called 911. The Bishops are grateful to their six-year-old canine “baby.” The next time you wake up to a dog barking its head off in the middle of the night, remember that he could be saving someone's life.
 >> Read about Tuffy's rescue in the Tucson Citizen.

Jesus Bernal

On Memorial Day Weekend 2008, Jesus Bernal and his family were sunning themselves by the pool at the Westin La Paloma. Unbeknownst to them, a quiet disaster was happening nearby. A toddler had fallen into the pool and was slowly drowning. By the time someone discovered his body and cried out, the little boy was turning blue and he had stopped breathing. Jesus pulled the baby from the water and immediately performed CPR. He had recently re-certified his lifesaving skills, and he resuscitated the boy just as paramedics arrived. The child survived, and the mother is forever grateful to Jesus.
 >> Read about Jesus and the rescue on KVOA and Fox11AZ.

John Wettack

Traveling through the countryside of Montana and British Columbia on a bicycle expedition, John Wettack and Ken Kingsley were prepared for every kind of cycling emergency. They had packed food and water, tire tubes and pumps, Allen wrenches and spoke gauges. They had even prepared for the worst problem of all, the one they never thought they would actually face. One night, while they were resting in a roadside motel, Ken collapsed from a cardiac arrest. Luckily, his friend had prepared by taking first aid classes and knew just what to do. John called for help and then performed CPR for 3 minutes until paramedics arrived. Later, doctors would agree that John's emergency training and quick response had saved his friend's life. Ken's wife joined him in Missoula and helped bring him home to Sierra Vista, where he fully recovered.

John Wettack

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Christina Street

Last December, Christina's family smelled smoke in their mobile home. When the smoke started billowing toward them, Christina's parents and grandparents knew they had to get out. Little Christina, five years old and weighing only 40 pounds, lifted her fourteen-month-old brother, who weighed 25 pounds, out of the home and down the stairs to safety. Christina then coddled her brother in her arms as firefighters worked to put out the blaze. 
 >> Read about Christina in the Sierra Vista Herald.

Kids Saving Lives Special Heroes Award

This year, several children have been nominated for courageous actions that helped save their loved ones. We honor these children for practicing their lifesaving skills and for their ability to assess and respond to emergency situations. We also honor our local fire departments for teaching first aid and home safety programs in our local schools skills that helped each of these kids save the life of someone they loved.

Dannik Batiste: While he was at his father's house one evening, a pizza box that had been left on the stove caught fire. Dannik remembered the training he received through Tucson Fire Department's “Adopt-A-School” program and reacted calmly. Dannik hustled his two younger brothers to a neighbor's house and asked for help. Another neighbor used his fire extinguisher to smother the flames.

Jesse Lesnewski: Eight-year-old Jesse was getting ready for school in February and went to wake her brother, Roy. She noticed that something was wrong: Roy is a diabetic, and Jesse quickly surmised that he was in a diabetic coma. Jesse “knew something had to be done” and placed some sugar in her brother's mouth to help revive him. She then woke her father, who called 911. As paramedics arrived, Jesse led them to Roy's bedroom. Roy's blood sugar had stabilized, and he did not need to go to the hospital.
 >> Read about Jesse and her brother Roy and see video at KVOA.

Dominique Rodriguez Armstrong: In May 2008, eight-year-old Dominique alerted her family to a fire in their home. Dominique had recently learned fire safety and evacuation procedures in school, and she used her new knowledge to save her parents and four younger siblings. Their home was completely destroyed, but Dominique's parents are grateful for her quick thinking and the training that she had received from the Red Cross.
 >> Read about Dominique and see video at KVOA.

Valencia Pierce: Valencia, a six-year-old, was sleeping with her mother one night and awoke when her mother began shaking uncontrollably. Valencia calmly called 911 and described the situation. She was also able to give the emergency personnel contact information for someone to care for her while her mother was transported to the hospital for evaluation. Valencia then went on to perform in her school's talent program the same day.

Tahmani Williams: Nolan Moore was living in a home on the property of his niece's family. As 12-year-old Tahmani Williams was getting ready for school one morning, he noticed smoke coming from the home. Tahmani went to investigate and discovered his Uncle Nolan unconscious in a diabetic coma, on the floor of the burning mobile home. Tahmani pulled his uncle from the flames, saving Nolan's life.
 >> Read about Tahmani and his uncle and see video at KVOA.