County Officials Honor “Everyday Heroes”

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, County Councilmember Phil Andrews and Fire Chief Steven E. Lohr today paid tribute to a group of “everyday heroes” – ordinary people who took extraordinary actions to save lives and help others.  In a ceremony in Rockville, five individuals were recognized for their roles in three different incidents.

“I am honored to recognize these good Samaritans for putting their own lives at risk in order to help those in need,” said Leggett.  “It is because of people like them that our County is such a great place to live.  The individuals we are recognizing today deserve our praise and admiration for coming to the rescue, in one case of elderly neighbors, and in the other cases, a total stranger.  Montgomery County is truly fortunate to have such heroes in our community.”

“As good as our Fire and Rescue career and volunteer personnel are, they cannot be everywhere all of the time,” said Andrews, who chairs the Council’s Public Safety Committee. “For those other times, we need public-spirited people like these Everyday Heroes to be the eyes, ears, and in some cases, the first responders to people in crisis. Everyone in this County admires the people we honored today for the selfless actions that they took.”

Leggett, Andrews and Lohr recognized the following individuals for their heroic actions in the following incidents:

(1)    In March 2013, two security officers at the Rockville campus of Montgomery College responded to a classroom after receiving a report about an unconscious student.  Security officers Yasmel Rodriquez and Jeff Wilson arrived on the scene with an Automatic External Defibrillator, quickly assessed the scene and immediately began CPR on the unconscious student.  Because of their quick actions and immediate response, the victim survived and is doing well today.

(2)    On June 29, 2012, Walter Lopez rescued a woman trapped in her car after a tree fell on it during the derecho storm. Observing that the victim was bleeding profusely and could not lift her head due to the crushed roof of the vehicle, Lopez pulled the victim out the passenger side window. Realizing that time was of the essence, Lopez drove the woman in his vehicle to Suburban Hospital, using towels and clothing to make a compress to slow the bleeding.  As a result of Lopez’ willingness to help regardless of the challenges presented by the severe storm, the Bethesda resident survived and has since recovered from her head injuries.

(3)    On July 23, 2013, a vehicle drove though the front of a Gaithersburg Sam’s Club store striking two men in the food court before coming to a stop.  One of the victims had a severe leg wound when Uniformed Services University Ensign John Hunt and Second Lieutenant Wells Weymouth, who happened to be at the Sam’s Club that day, put their training into action.  The two used their belts in an attempt to stop the man’s leg from bleeding and stabilized the victim until paramedics could arrive. The quick actions of these two heroes were instrumental to the man’s survival.

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