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| aerial view of Logan, Utah (Utah State University Campus) |
A Valley of Heroes
I live in a valley of heroes. I get teary-eyed just
thinking about it, especially in light of recent events. Cache Valley, located
in northern Utah, is known for its agricultural roots, Utah State University, Aggie
Ice Cream, mountains, cheese, honey, basketball, football, and especially for
its people.
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| favorite landmark in Wellsvile, Utah |
Today I’d like to reflect on the people.
There are everyday heroes who perform small, quiet
acts that never get reported in the paper. You know who you are. You’re the woman
whose best friend’s husband was killed in a tragic auto accident, leaving a
young family of three children without a husband and father. You quietly set up
fundraising efforts, spread the word, and gave some much-needed comfort and support
to the grieving family.
Thank you.
When I was twelve, I was with my mother when she got a
flat tire. A man stopped immediately, pulled out his jack and wrench, and
quickly put on our spare tire. We tried to thank him. All he said was
“Christensen’s my name, ma’am. You have a good day,” before he got in his own
car and drove off.
Mr. Christensen, I haven’t forgotten you.
I have always considered the late Logan High principal
Allison Dunn a hero. Not only was she a treasured friend and cancer survivor,
she kept an eye on my boys at school and watched over them during some rocky
years; they had great respect for Mrs. Dunn. Just months after she was declared
cancer-free, the disease came back with a vengeance, and she lost her battle,
never even reaching age fifty. I tried to tell her how much she had meant to me
and my family, and I think she understood, during some of the quiet afternoons
we spent together near the end. It was my privilege to be there. She remarked
that buttermilk and Melba toast were the only foods that appealed to her, one
day I brought buttermilk and Melba toast to her. When I opened the refrigerator,
it was full of cartons of buttermilk; boxes of Melba toast were stacked on the
counter.
Allison, thank you for being a wonderful, strong
woman.
Several years ago, a
man delivering our newspaper smelled gas in front of our house early
One morning. He rang the
doorbell and woke us, the gas company was called, and the leak was soon
repaired. We weren’t harmed in any way; he prevented that from happening. I
don’t think we even knew his name, and for that I apologize.
You know who you are, though. Thank you.
Last September, an auto and motorcyclist collided just
a mile away from my home, on a busy highway next to the Utah State University campus.
The motorcycle burst into flames. Its driver was unconscious and trapped under
the car. Nearby construction workers and students ran to the scene. They
quickly decided they had to lift the car off the injured student. With a
coordinated effort, they did, and another student quickly pulled him to safety.
There was no doubt, officials said; he would not have survived if people hadn’t
intervened quickly. His injuries were not life-threatening, though he’ll
undergo quite a bit of therapy for some fractures. An USU employee was preparing
to film a classroom lecture nearby when he heard the crash and the commotion.
He grabbed his camera and began to capture the rescue. That video went viral. Many
people were astonished and impressed and touched when they watched it.
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| student rescued from fiery crash |
The family of the victim issued this statement: “Brandon and our
entire family would like to express our deep gratitude to all of the people who
stopped at the crash scene on Monday to help rescue Brandon. The fact that so
many people would risk their own lives to save Brandon is a testament to the
spirit of the community, and we will forever be thankful for these angels
saving our son.”
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| Brandon Wright speaks from hospital about his rescue |
Thank you to the
everyday people who ran to help, for showing us that everyday people can accomplish
great feats.
On January 31, 2011, Roger Christensen was driving two
of his children and one of their friends to our local ski resort for an
afternoon of skiing. Though the drivers in the canyon that afternoon were slow
and cautious, the roads were treacherous. Roger saw a van slide off the road in
front of him. The driver was able to maneuver her van onto a nearby bridge
before it stopped, to avoid collisions. Roger gently tapped his brake to
determine if he could stop if necessary. Instead, his car went off the road,
plunged down a ten-foot embankment, and flipped upside down, landing in the
frigid Logan River, where it rapidly began to fill with water.
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| site of Logan Canyon crash |
Some of the front windows had shattered, Roger remembers,
and he was able to get out of the car and catch his breath, but he could not
reach the children strapped in their seat belts, one in a toddler seat, upside
down, in the back seat. The doors and windows could not be opened. He hardly
had time to feel frantic, he says, because within seconds, other people pulled
over, saw him desperately trying reach the children, and scrambled down the
embankment, where they jumped into the icy river to help.
When Roger’s car slid off the road and into the river,
there was no time to wait for help. Paramedics could not have arrived in time
to rescue the children. The strangers who stopped knew time was of the essence
and simply did what was needed. One man later reflected that he didn’t even
remember jumping into the river.
"Within five seconds there
were eight men in the river, three to four feet deep water, and ready to assist
and help in any way," Roger said.
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| rescuers |
As a team, they used all the strength they could
muster and flipped the car over. One man who helped turn the car over said that
as they struggled in the water, he suddenly felt someone very strong behind
him, pushing, but when the car finally flipped and he looked back, there was no
one behind him. He feels that was one of many miracles that took place on
milepoint 474, Highway 89, that afternoon.
A private
bodyguard and former law enforcement officer instructor who specialized in
weapons training was one of the first to plunge into the river. He pulled out
his handgun, (he carries a legal permit) and shot out the back window. Two
children were quickly pulled out of the car, blue and not breathing. They were
handed to more rescuers on the side of the road. The third child was taking
gasps from a pocket of air above her head, but could not unclasp her seat belt.
The man with the handgun also had a pocketknife; he pulled it out and cut her
seat belt free.
On the side of the road, one Good Samaritan, a
respiratory therapist, worked with others to revive the two children who
weren’t breathing, and tearful cheers erupted as they began to breathe again.
Other motorists took the children into their cars, wrapped them in warm
blankets, and drove them down the canyon to intercept the ambulance that was on
its way. The children were treated for hypothermia and spent a couple of days
in the hospital as a precaution.
Roger, the children, and nine of the known passers-by
who stopped and assisted were recently featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where the children were each given a $10,000
scholarship toward college. Lavish bundles of gifts, worth $30,000 each, were
showered on everyone in the group, and they were also treated to a VIP trip to
Disneyland. One of the rescuers, a highway patrolman who coordinated communications
with the paramedics and others at the scene, gave his gifts away to a charity
that benefits families and children of highway patrol personnel. He didn’t feel
right, he said, for receiving special attention for simply doing his job.
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| the children who were rescued |
I’m sure Mia, Baylor and Kenya don’t understand why they’re
getting so much special attention for being in an accident and rescued by
strangers, but their lives will soon settle back to normal. No doubt they will
come to realize, later in life, however, that others, everyday people, considered
their lives to be precious.
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| Roger Andersen at press conference |
Roger calls the
people who helped “heroes in waiting.” What a great description.
Am I a hero in waiting? Are you? Will we be called
upon to perform heroic deeds?
No doubt you have already faced tremendous challenges
in your personal lives, or in your families, and dealt with them quietly, nevertheless
with great courage.
Perhaps you’re a firefighter and you face danger every
day to protect everyone in my valley, and our property.
You may be a law enforcement officer working
tirelessly to fight crime in the form of drugs and gangs, or even the reluctant
city police officer who put on a big glove designed for handling dangerous
animals, scooped up a terrified bat that was cowering on our bathroom floor,
and took it to the open window to fly away to freedom.
You could be the one who arrested a group of teenagers
sitting around an illegal campfire and drinking beer, took them to the police
station, and called their parents. If you had not spotted them, the events of
that night could have ended in tragedy.
Perhaps you walk the halls of our schools to keep our
children safe from the harmful elements that have invaded our schools: gangs,
drugs, bullying. The students admire you, and they consider you their friend.
For all of that and more, I thank you, too, our public
servants who are on the job every day.
You could be the mail carrier who opened the door to
his truck at the end of his route one day, and found that someone had left a
box of nine abandoned newborn puppies in the vehicle. You quickly took them
home, kept the puppies alive and warm, and, with your family, began a round-the
clock vigil of frequent bottle feedings with special, expensive formula. When
the puppies were old enough to be adopted, you kept one and found homes for the
rest.
I remember you, and I thank you for your kindness.
You probably will not receive a big screen TV for your
private acts of heroism. I’m fairly certain you won’t get an all-expense paid VIP
Disneyland excursion.
But you know who you are. And for being who you are, I
thank you.
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