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2007 Real Heroes Award Winners
As the community leader in emergency preparedness, prevention and response, the American Red Cross honors individuals whose extraordinary acts of courage and kindness make them real heroes.
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See award winners from 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007
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Jeff Azersky and Bob Griego
Jeff and his friend Bob were fishing in float tubes (single person inner tubes used to float in water and paddle around) at Sunrise Lake. As they were getting ready to leave after a long day of fishing, one of them noticed an overturned boat about 150 yards out. The two paddled out to the boat and found two men in the water without any floatation gear clinging to their overturned boat and near hypothermia. Jeff and Bob gave the two men their own life preservers, putting themselves at risk as float tubes are known to pop easily, and used their own strength to tow the two men and their boat to shore. Once on shore, Jeff and Bob gave the two men pieces of their own clothing to help return their body temperatures to normal and arranged for their boat to be taken back to dock.
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Jeff Azersky
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Christie Rodriguez
10-year-old Alex noticed her 3-year-old neighbor was floating in her pool at a gathering on July 3rd. Alex notified adults, and her mother, Christie, who had completed Red Cross CPR training in June. Christie performed CPR on the girl until she began coughing and breathing again. The 3-year-old had "floaties" on her arms that had fallen off; she was taken to the hospital for observation and was expected to recover.
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Christie Rodriguez
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Tom Boyle
As they left a shopping center, Tom and his wife noticed something unbelievable, an 18-year-old trapped underneath his bicycle pinned underneath a Camaro. The boy, Kyle Holtrust, was trapped under the car with his bike and was dragged 20-30 feet before the driver stopped. Tom ran to the car and lifted the front end of the vehicle higher and higher until the boy had enough room to be pulled out from underneath. Tom and his wife waited with Kyle, calming and reassuring him, until police and fire departments arrived. Kyle was taken to University Medical Center to be treated for head and leg injuries. As the community leader in emergency preparedness, prevention and response, the American Red Cross honors individuals whose extraordinary acts of courage and kindness make them real heroes.
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Tom Boyle
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Kasina Manuel
Mary Hardwich was walking at Palo Verde Park around 6am when a man attacked and robbed her. Kasina Manuel was at the nearby dog park exercising her dog when she heard Mary's screams for help. Kasina quickly loaded her dog into her car and drove toward Mary with her high beams on, just as the attacker started dragging her into the trees and bushes. She scared off the attacker and saved Mary's life.
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Kasina Manuel
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Sean McDowell
While two friends were swimming at the pool of the Double Tree Hotel, one panicked and held the other under water for several minutes as he leaned on him to get out of the pool. Hotel employee, Sean McDowell, ran to the rescue, pulling the boy out of the pool and administering CPR. The boy, who was held underwater, was taken to University Medical Center where he had to be on a breathing machine for 6 days, but would survive because of Sean's quick response.
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Sean McDowell
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Bobbie Bauer's 3 dogs; Barkley, Beaner & Shadow
Bobbie was painting her house when the ladder started to slip and she fell, cracking her head open and knocking herself unconscious. When she woke up an hour later she found her three rescued dachshunds standing over her; one was licking a wound on the back of her head, the other was licking the side of her face and the third was trying to wake her up. She realized she needed to call for help; her phone was too far away for her to reach, so she asked one of the dogs to retrieve it for her; the dog pulled the tarp bringing the phone within arm's reach. Bobbie managed to call her neighbor before passing out again. Her neighbor called 911. The dogs still continued to protect their master by attacking the firefighter they thought was going to hurt her. The firefighter got to the hospital where doctors’ said that if her dogs hadn't been there to lick the wound and start the clotting process she probably would have bled to death. It took six staples to close the wound on her head.
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Bobbie Bauer's 3 dogs; Barkley, Beaner & Shadow
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Jodie Leeth
While Jodie, 17, was babysitting her 2-year-old cousin she decided to take her for a walk to buy food at a local grocery store. As the two neared the end of a crosswalk on their way home, the light turned green. A driver, who was paying more attention to his CD player than the road, began driving through the intersection toward the two girls who hadn't finished crossing yet. Jodie saw the driver coming toward them and pushed her cousin, who was in a stroller, out of the way. The driver hit Jodie, who suffered a deep cut on her back that required surgery, a broken pelvis and lots of scrapes and bruises; her 2-year-old cousin was safe with only a scrape on her head.
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Jodie Leeth
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Viktor Chavira
When 12-year-old Victor heard his dog, Lala, barking outside he ran out and found his dad floating in the pool face down and bleeding from his head. Victor called 911 and pulled his dad to the edge, holding his head above water until help arrived. As he waited, his 4-year-old brother panicked and started pulling him away from the pool and their father. Victor was able to calm his brother without leaving his father's side, staying calm all the time. Victor's father was cleaning the pool when he tripped over the dog, fell into the pool and hit his head on the side, losing consciousness. He made a full recovery.
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Viktor Chavira
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Marcella Perunko
While outside her home in Rio Rico, AZ Marcella heard a loud crash, when she looked, she found an unconscious man inside of a car that hit a tree. She ran to her neighbor's house who finally let her in after several knocks. As she entered her neighbor's home, his dog attacked Marcella, biting her on the arm. She called 911 and as she left, her neighbor cut his finger and would not go out to help her. She went back to the scene and began unlocking the car to remove the unconscious man when another neighbor stopped. This neighbor helped remove the man from the car and Marcella began mouth to mouth CPR. Paramedics arrived and were able to defibrillate the man and return his pulse. He was taken to Carondelet Hospital in Nogales and then was airlifted to UMC in Tucson where he was in a coma for several days before making a full recovery.
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Marcella Perunko
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Officer Herb Williams
Officer Williams was off duty, on his way to the White Mountain Area on U.S. 60, when he noticed smoke coming from the side of the canyon; a Gatorade tractor-trailer had gone over the edge and laid 175 feet down the canyon. Officer Williams climbed down the cliff and then over pieces of the truck to find the driver pinned behind the wheel with a head injury. He removed the injured driver from the truck, stabilizing him, and keeping them both hydrated with the Gatorade from the truck for more than three hours until help arrived. The injured driver was airlifted to a hospital where he made a full recovery.
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Herb Williams
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Donald LaBeau
While Donald was at work, near the intersection of Arcadia and Speedway, he heard a loud thud. He looked out to find a woman lying motionless on the ground and a car speeding away. He asked his customer to call 911 and ran out to help the woman, who wasn't breathing. He performed CPR and by the time the paramedics arrived had restored the woman's breathing and pulse.
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Donald LaBeau
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Jose Guzman
A strange man standing by the side of the road tried to snatch a nine-year-old girl from the back seat of her parent's truck while they were stopped at a traffic light. As her brother tried to hold on to her, her father, Jose, pulled the truck around the corner and "jumped on the guy and started beating him up left and right," he said. Motor officer John Cammarano approached the situation and as soon as he made contact the suspect punched him in the face. The suspect tried to grab the officer's gun twice; on the second attempt Jose "got into the scuffle again with him," he said, and prevented the situation from worsening. The suspect was arrested and taken to prison. Although Jose's daughter had nightmares afterward, she was uninjured.
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Jose Guzman
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Brianna and Fred Altamirano
Brianna found her 7-year-old sister, Celine, submerged in the bathtub with the water overflowing one morning while they were getting ready for school. Brianna pulled her sister out of the tub, called her father Fred and then called 911. While Fred began performing CPR, Brianna talked to the 911 dispatcher and finally Celine began to cough.
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Brianna and Fred Altamirano
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Justine Steffe
The car had just been hit by a train; it was bursting with flames and there was a man, unconscious and stuck inside. Justine leaped out of her car, leaving her mom and son inside. She called 911 and worked with another bystander to get the victim's car open. They had to break a window so that Justine could perform CPR; she was the only one small enough to fit inside. Emergency responders used the jaw of life to get him out, however, he didn't survive.
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Justine Steffe
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Unsung Hero - Olivia McIntyre
Olivia is in her late 60's and has raised five children. Early in her marriage her husband manifested the signs of cerebellar ataxia which he ultimately died from, but not before passing on the gene to his children. She was the sole provider and caretaker for her family. To date she has buried her husband and all five of her children who died between ages of 19 and 37. She has been active in raising her grandchildren, and now is the primary caretaker of her 3 year old great granddaughter, born to a granddaughter who might have the disease, and is battling the street life.
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Olivia McIntyre
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