Real Heroes - Victor Perez

ADULT MALE GOOD SAMARITAN HERO
Nominator: Fresno Police Department

On Monday, October 4, 2010 a little 9 year old girl was playing in front of her home with other children when a man drove up in a truck, lured her inside and kidnapped her. Within minutes of her abduction, a statewide Amber Alert was issued and like thousands of people, Victor Perez saw the description of the truck on the news that evening. Victor paid particular attention to the information since the young girl lived down the street.

Early the next morning, Perez got in his truck to search the neighborhood for that truck. He drove only a few blocks before spotting something that caught his eye: it was a truck, very similar to the one he saw just a few hours before on the news. Perez immediately pulled alongside the truck and attempted to talk to the driver, who told him he was having mechanical trouble and couldn’t pull over. This seemed odd to Perez, so he again pulled alongside and asked the driver to pull over. Perez told the driver he should call police because they were looking for a truck just like his.

Now agitated, the driver sped away. Perez became even more suspicious and was determined to get the driver to pull over. Perez positioned his truck in front of the suspect’s truck; however, the suspect maneuvered around it and drove off.

As Perez pulled up to the truck again, a little girl’s head popped up and Perez immediately knew he had been following the suspect vehicle and the little girl inside was the kidnapping victim. Perez sped up and boxed in the suspect’s truck. Perez yelled at the suspect to stop and the suspect pushed the victim out of the vehicle. Perez jumped out of his truck, ran to the aid of the victim, called police and stayed with the victim until police arrived.

The suspect was caught a short time later and now faces several charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Real Heroes - Richard Cressall

LAW ENFORCEMENT HERO
Nominator: Visalia Police Chief Colleen Mestas

On May 23rd Officer Richard Cressall, of the Visalia Police Department, was assigned to the morning shift. During his shift, Officer Cressall spotted smoke coming from a home, so he stopped to investigate.

As he pulled into the driveway it was apparent that the garage was engulfed in flames and there was no sign that the family inside was awake. He hurried to the front door and knocked several times but with no response he entered the home.

As he entered the bedrooms he found the family asleep and unaware of the immediate danger. Officer Cressall evacuated the family of five: one adult and four children, as the fire began spreading from the garage to the rest of the home.

The family was safely evacuated from the home and Officer Cressall reported to work without mentioning his early morning act of courage. This did not surprise his family or fellow officers as many of them would describe Officer Cressall as a humble man.

When his act of heroism came to light, Officer Cressall was honored for his heroism by the homeowner, Denise Mancini, Police Chief Colleen Mestas, and the Visalia City Council.

Real Heroes - David Kendrick

MILITARY HERO
Nominator: Milford B. Whitson

Petty Officer David Kendrick is a Radar Approach Controller at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore. On April 10, 2010, during his routine shift in the control tower, Petty Officer Kendrick became aware of a light civil aircraft experiencing an in-flight emergency and needing immediate assistance.

Petty Officer Kendrick soon determined that the aircraft had experienced complete engine failure and would need to be guided to safety. After informing the pilot of the graveness of the situation, it became apparent that Kendrick would need to use his extraordinary equipment knowledge to instruct the frantic pilot to a safe landing.

Once determining which airfield would be the safest for landing, Petty Officer Kendrick utilized his cursor bearing equipment and distance charts to instruct the pilot to a safe landing. During this time he also notified the civilian law enforcement agency for additional back up on the ground. After some very tense minutes, the pilot was able to safely land the aircraft at the designated airfield.

Petty Officer Kendrick’s professionalism, personal initiative, and unswerving devotion to duty, reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Navy.

Real Heroes - Fresno Firefighters

FIRE RESCUE HERO
Nominator: Michael Despain

On May 25, 2010 neighbors saw flames coming from a house down the block and believed family members were still inside the home. The first Fresno Fire Department crew arrived on scene within four minutes, and by that time flames had engulfed the home.

Captain Clint Nichols, Captain Doug Garifo, Captain Daniel Escobar, Engineer Richard Willard and Firefighter Kevin Hughes were aware of the trapped family members inside the home so they entered the structure and began search and rescue operations while fighting the fire.
Moments after entering the home, Captain Garifo informed the Command Post a fire victim had been found. Engineer Willard found Mrs. Glenna Smith unconscious on the floor in one of the bedroom. Together, Engineer Willard along with Captains Escobar, Nichols, and Garifo, carried Mrs. Smith out of the house to awaiting fire personnel.

Captain Charles Leach, Engineer Fred Woods, Firefighter Joshua Sellers and Firefighter Anthony Troncale immediately began to resuscitate Mrs. Smith, who was found pulseless and not breathing. With the assistance of American Ambulance Paramedic, Mrs. Smith was transported to Community Regional Medical Center and was revived. Mrs. Smith was discharged from Regional Medical Center the following week.

On December 1, 2010 the Fresno Fire Department awarded medals of valor to these firefighters for their actions on May 25, 2010.

Real Heroes - Jamie Barker

ADULT FEMALE GOOD SAMARITAN HERO
Nominator: Brian McGrath

The Dakota House is a safe and loving place for school age children to go to after school. Jamie Barker, the founder of the Dakota House, created this nurturing environment with the understanding that children need a place where they can be surrounded by great adult role models and learn valuable character traits like respect, thoughtfulness, and appreciation towards others. Jamie also became a resource for homework help and daily after-school snacks; support that wasn’t offered in the children’s homes.

Because most of the Dakota House children do not receive gifts at Christmas, or have family gatherings with the traditional holiday meals, Jamie decided to once again move into action. During this past holiday season, Jamie wanted to give the children of the Dakota House a great Christmas treat, so she secured enough donations to give each child one gift and a shoeboxes stocking to take home and decorate on their own.

When the children arrive at the Dakota House for a holiday celebration, they are welcomed with a family dinner, Christmas carols, and homemade cookies. At the end of the evening the children open their gifts one at a time – with their loving Dakota House family.

Real Heroes - Scott Chedester

YOUTH HERO
Nominator: Rick Turner

Scott Chedester is a 16 year Lemoore High School student and junior varsity water polo player. During President’s Weekend 2010, he and several of his fellow team mates traveled to Long Beach for the Winterfest Water Polo Tournament. After placing third in the tournament the young men decided to spend Sunday at the beach and go surfing before heading home.

The surf was high that Sunday and after catching a few waves, Scott paddled to shore. That’s when he heard people screaming and saw a pair of feet and shins sticking out of the water about 30 feet away. There was a man struggling and yelling for help. Scott realized that he needed to help this man quickly so he started running through the water, threw his surfboard down and started paddling out.

The under tow was sweeping the man away and just as Scott got 10 feet away, the man went under- but thankfully he resurfaced. Just as the man popped up for one last breath and started to go back under, Scott was able to grab him by the T-Shirt and pull him onto the surfboard.

Scott was a certified lifeguard and understood the importance of calmly communicating with the man. He explained that he was a lifeguard and he was there to help. Just as they were both situated on the surf board and headed back to shore, another wave caught them from behind and knocked them off the board.

Understanding the importance of getting this man to safety, Scott pulled him to the surf board with a lifeguard hold and was able to once again get both the man and himself back on the surf board and paddled back to shore. Once on shore paramedics arrived and gave the man oxygen and medical attention.

Scott’s combination of quick action and trained lifesaving skills saved a life that day on the beach.

Real Heroes - Dr. Richard Moors, M.D.

COMMUNITY PARTNER HERO
Nominator: Scott Bridgeman

Dr. Richard Moors’ career in Ophthalmology began over 30 years ago, and since that time he has helped tens of thousands of patients reclaim their most precious sense – vision. In 1976, Dr. Moors started working at EYE-Q Vision Care and now thirty-five years later, he is the senior partner and Medical Director of the practice.

Whenever Dr. Moors receives a call from a referring doctor or colleague with a patient in need of cataract surgery but in financial duress, he waives his surgery fee without hesitation. When it comes to his own patients, Dr. Moors will exhaust every available avenue in – search of financial assistance to help cover their medical expense(s). Sufficed to say, no stone goes unturned until a solution is found to help his patients.

Dr. Moors’ personal passion is the Flying Doctor of Mercy/LIGA. Every year he donates the use of his personal plane to fly to Mexico with a team of other medical specialists, EYE-Q staff, and with supplies to provide prescription glasses to those who would otherwise have no access to medical care. Dr. Moors spearheaded a fundraising effort by EYE-Q to raise money for LIGA by discounting LASIK surgery when patients brought in and donated their old eye glasses. To date, the “LASIK for LIGA” campaign has been one of EYE-Q’s most successful campaigns.

Real Heroes - Joseph Edwards & Bernice Gonzales

GOOD SAMARITAN HERO
Nominator: Sam Moyers

Just after midnight on a cold December night, Joseph Edwards and Bernice Gonzales huddled under a bridge on G Street trying to stay out of the rain. Suddenly, a loud crash startled the couple, who soon realized a car had driven over the embankment and into the freezing water of Bear Creek.

Joseph threw his cell phone to Bernice and told her to call 911 as he headed down the steep slope towards the water. The water was about 10 feet deep and all he could see was tail lights. As he approached the car, he found a woman pulling herself out of the car through the windshield, screaming there were more people in the car. Just then, Joseph noticed a male body floating in the water.

As Joseph entered the frigid water to reach the floating body, he grabbed the man by his clothes and drug him to shore. Once the man was securely on shore, Joseph reentered the water to help the remaining passengers out of the car to safety. Bernice was in contact with the Merced Police Department who soon arrived to assist in the rescue.

Joseph and Bernice’s courage and heroic acts saved the lives of everyone in the car that night.

Real Hero - Mike Villines

SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS
Nominator: Janene Flad

Former Assemblyman Mike Villines is a generous supporter of our community. Mike has co-sponsored an Annual Community Renewal Summit for nonprofit agencies, involves school age children in community projects, and has supported our military personnel.

Over the last four years, Mike has partnered with the Clovis Unified School District during the holiday season to gather Christmas cards to send to our local service men and women deployed around the world. This venture started as a small scale project, where Mike personally donated the money for the postage.

Mike continues his involvement with the holiday cards project and last December over 10,000 holiday cards were collected, signed and mailed to our service men and women. It is individuals such as Mike Villines that teach our children the importance of giving back to the community and to remember the sacrifice that service men and women and their families are making on a daily basis.

Real Hero - Robert Auldridge

HEALTH CARE HERO
Nominator: Sonya Severo

On August 16, 2010, Riggs Ambulance paramedic Robert Auldridge and EMT Ryan Silva responded to a call for medical help at the home of Paul and Antonia Wuthrich. As they entered the home, they found Paul Wuthrich lying on his couch confused and nauseated. After beginning medical aid to Mr. Wuthrich, the two realized he was in serious trouble.

Paramedic Auldridge and EMT Silva checked Wuthrich’s vital signs and discovered a weak pulse at 50 beats-per-minute. Although Mr. Wuthrich needed to be transported to the hospital immediately, he did not want to go; however with some quick persuasion from Paramedic Auldridge, Mr. Wuthrich was soon loaded into the ambulance. As the ambulance pulled away from the home, headed for Mercy Medical Center, Mr. Wuthrich went into cardiac arrest.

Paramedic Auldridge immediately began CPR, asked EMT Silva to pull over, and requested assistance from CAL Fire. When CAL Fire arrived, Fireman Colby Simms jumped up into the ambulance and provided additional support by assisting with compressions. Paramedic Auldridge initiated advanced life support care including administering Epinephrine and Atropine to increase Wuthrich’s heart rate.

Mr. Wuthrich had a positive change and began to breathe on his own, so the ambulance continued to Mercy Medical Center with the lights flashing and sirens on. When they arrived at the hospital, Mr. Wuthrich was able to talk to Emergency Service Providers and was released from the hospital a week later.

Real Hero - Mike Delaney

AMERICAN RED CROSS AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR
Nominator: Ralph Goldbeck

Michael Delaney was recruited in 2002 to join a Red Cross advisory committee that was being assembled to re-organize the local chapter. The advisory committee later transformed into a new board of directors and Michael was elected chair. This was a very critical time for our local Red Cross chapter, as levels of financial contributions had fallen to an all-time low in the wake of the enormous outpouring of support for the 9/11 Freedom Fund. The local chapter was severely challenged with a new board, no CEO and operational cash flow of less than 30 days.

Over the next three years, under Michael’s guidance, the board continued to strengthen, fundraising started to increase, and the chapter’s financial position started to stabilize. When the Hurricane Season of 2005 arrived with three major hurricanes in 45 days, the Fresno-Madera Counties Chapter had strengthened to a point where it was able to recruit and train over 300 volunteers and dispatch over 150 personnel directly to the Gulf Coast.

Typically the board chair only serves a two year term, but Michael’s term of service was far from typical. He and the Board agreed that his leadership was still needed as the American Red Cross was re-structuring into a regional format. Under Michael’s leadership, the chapter stabilized enough to be selected by Red Cross National Headquarters as a regional chapter with oversight of a seven county area covering 25,000 square miles.

It is easy to step into a leadership position when the road is paved and things are operating smoothly, but to step into the board chair position as Michael did -took faith, determination and courage. Michael’s sacrifice, resolve and effort in guiding our local chapter during a critical time of need were exemplary, and are truly deserving of the Ambassador of the Year award.