Your Hometown Heroes have given the gift of life itself, protected animals from harm, rescued strangers, put themselves in danger to assist others, and used their skills calmly and quickly when seconds counted.
Ordinary people . . . . .
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Sacramento Sierra Chapter, American Red Cross, provides the same life-saving services and community support which we celebrate in the 2008 Hometown Heroes honorees. Your local Red Cross chapter has cared for victims of home fires, hurricanes, floods and wildfires at both the local and national levels. It helps families of our armed forces communicate during times of conflict, and works with individuals, businesses and government agencies to provide health and safety education and emergency preparedness training. It also educates elementary students on the basics of first aid and trains community members to become disaster responders in your neighborhoods. The next fire, flood, interstate emergency, evacuation, earthquake or other catastrophe will strike soon. Your generous donations help ensure that your local Red Cross chapter will be there when the need arises. |
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Inspired by her then-fiancé's (and now husband's) gift of a kidney to his father, Kristen Weckworth went one step farther. She gave the gift of life itself to a stranger. On Thanksgiving Day, 2007, after seven years on a kidney transplant list, Staci Smith received a healthy kidney donated by our Hometown Hero. The successful transplant took place in July 2008. |
| While working, Hakiem Bostic noticed a scared young boy. The boy told Hakiem that he was being followed by a man who had made suggestive gestures and offered him money. Our hero ran after the man and caught him. Not content with the man's offer to tell the boy that he was sorry, Hakiem called police. The officers investigated and confirmed that the man was a registered sex offender. |  |
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Devin Medeiros, Nicholas Walker, Richard Valcher and Brandon Flores were along the American River when they observed Song Yang struggling in the water, and soon slipping beneath the surface. The young men dove into the water, found the man and retrieved him to the shore. Recognizing that he was not breathing, our Hometown Heroes called 911 and performed CPR as the man lay on the riverbank. Park Ranger John Havicon noted, "Mr. Yang would not have survived without their quick and heroic action." |
| During a water polo practice, a player became unconscious and slipped beneath the surface of the water. Annie Adcock, Hayley Handcock and Amanda Clark responded immediately and pulled her to the surface. Coach Paul Stewart removed the player from the water and administered CPR. The player soon began to breath on her own and quickly returned to swim on the water polo team. |  |
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A suicidal man had both his legs over the railing of a bridge and was preparing to jump into shallow water 70 feet below. Officer Tim Galovich was just able to reach the man and wrap his arms around the man's waist as he began to lean forward off the bridge. A slight misstep would have sent both to their near-certain deaths. Once rescued, the subject fought and tried to jump a second time. Officer Galovich was able to again stop him from making the jump. |
| Kelly Garcia used her lifeguard first aid skills to save her 18-month-old cousin who was choking on a piece of candy. When Kelly arrived on the scene her cousin was unable to breathe and another family member had failed to dislodge the candy. Thanks to her lifeguard training, our Hometown Hero knew the proper technique to use and calmly took control of the child and quickly cleared their airway of the candy. |  |
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When a rollover accident left a truck in flames with its driver trapped inside, onlookers tried to get him out but were beaten back by the flames. Claude Walker came upon the scene, ran into the inferno and dragged the driver through the windshield and about 100 feet to safety. Our Hometown Hero could hear the truck's tires exploding as he pulled the man out. Just seconds after completing the rescue the truck cab was completely destroyed. |
| While enroute to Roseville after working wildfires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California National Guard members Robert Zehender, Derrick Boutte (not pictured) and Hector Delgadillo (not pictured) noticed that something was very wrong with another vehicle. They stopped a moving truck and removed the driver from behind the wheel. The driver was slumped over, not responsive and turning purple. Our Hometown Heroes administered CPR for 10 to 15 minutes until professional medical assistance arrived. |  |
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William Slater began giving blood during his first military assignment in 1974 because he "wanted to give back to the community." Since then he has donated well over 1,000 times, equaling 145 gallons of blood. He designates his donations for the Shriners Hospitals for Children. This allows the hospital to receive an equal amount of blood for a needy child at no cost. |
| Observing that the number of feral cats was increasing, Mike Weinberger set out to save them while preventing the population from growing. During breaks and on his lunch hour, Mike sets cage traps to catch the feral cats. He takes the kittens to the SPCA or other shelters for adoption. Our hero then ensures that trapped adults are neutered before he releases them back into the area where they were trapped. |  |
