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Heroes Emerge in Attack of Sri Lankan Cricket Team in Pakistan

From CNN – March 3, 2009

Former England batsman Chris Broad has emerged as a hero after the armed ambush in Pakistan that killed eight people and wounded eight Sri Lankan Test cricketers.

International Cricket Council match referee Broad, whose son Stuart is currently touring the West Indies with England, was among officials travelling in a minibus immediately behind the Sri Lankan squad in Lahore. As their vehicle also came under attack, the 51-year Broad used his body as a shield to protect fourth umpire Ehsan Raza who had been shot and is now reportedly in a critical condition in hospital.

A dozen masked gunmen attacked the convoy close to the Gaddafi Stadium where day three of the second Test against Pakistan was due to take place.

“My dad saw things that he never expected to see and he never wants to see again,” Broad junior told PA Sport en route with the England team to Trinidad from Barbados.

“It was dreadful. I spoke to him in the early hours of this morning and he was obviously very shook up by it all. It has obviously been really heart-breaking for him.”

The 22-year-old Broad added: “He is safe and well and looking forward to getting back to the UK. “Not just for my old man, but for the whole of the Sri Lankan side, it is a dreadful thing to have happened.

“Luckily none of them got seriously injured and they’ve escaped okay. It is just an horrific incident and we all feel for them because we can sort of relate to the situation. “Obviously our condolences go out to the families and loved ones who lost people in the incident.”

Broad senior, who played for England in Lahore back in 1987, became an ICC Test officials six years ago.

Former Middlesex and Kent wicketkeeper Paul Farbrace, now assistant coach of Sri Lanka, was among those hurt by shrapnel as they lay on the floor of the team coach.

“I exchanged text messages this morning with him,” the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Hugh Morris told media. “Thankfully he is okay.

“Paul used to work for the ECB for 10 years or so, so we’re very close to people involved and our players obviously play against the Sri Lankan players on a regular basis.

“Our thoughts go out to everybody that was caught up in the attack, particularly those who were injured, and the families of those that were killed.

“It was just a shocking day for everybody, particularly those that are involved in cricket.”

The attack has sent shock waves around the sporting world and raised fears about the future of international cricket matches, including the 2011 World Cup, in Pakistan.

Pakistan, which is battling Islamist and Taliban insurgents in its North West Frontier Province, has struggled to attract visiting cricket teams in recent years because of security concerns.

The current Test series with Sri Lanka is the Pakistani team’s first since touring India in 2007.

Pakistan captain Younus Khan believes his team had a lucky escape telling PA Sport: “We normally leave together, but today we were delayed and the Sri Lankan team went ahead of us. It would have been catastrophic had both buses gone together.”

Younus spoke to a number of the Sri Lankan players after the incident. “They were courteous and took the incident in their stride. They merely termed it ‘a bad experience’ and they have no ill feeling towards this country,” said the 31-year-old.

“This is a deplorable act and it’s completely unacceptable.”

10-Year Old Saves Mom from Drowning in Bath

From the Glasgow Daily Record – Feburary 27, 2009

A SCHOOLBOY has been hailed a hero after he saved his mum from drowning in a bath. Amanda Smith had fainted in the tub and slipped under the water. When her 10-year-old son Aidan Turner found her, he sprang into action. Aidan pulled the plug out of the bath, grabbed his mum by the hair, dragged her out of the water and put her in the recovery position. He then phoned his gran Sheila MacDonald, who works as a domestic worker at Borders General Hospital, to ask for help. An ambulance was called to take Amanda to the hospital, where she spent three days recovering. The mum-of-four said yesterday: “If it hadn’t been for Aidan, I would have died. I am so proud of him. “I was completely submerged, I don’t know for how long. I can only go on what Aidan and his grandmother have told me. “He lifted my head out of the water but said it was really hard because it was so wet. “His younger sisters were crying and he was trying to keep them calm, saying, ‘Mummy’s going to be OK’. “He covered me with a towel and was keeping my head up and talking to me. He was so brave. “Water was coming out of my mouth and I was coughing, so he was patting me on the back to get the water out. “I had to receive oxygen in the ambulance on the way to hospital.” Amanda, who is separated from her husband, suffers from low blood pressure and doctors believe the hot water may have caused her to faint. She said she has tried to bring up Aidan and his sisters Kirsten, 12, Madison, seven and two-year-old Lily-Ruth to be safety-conscious. Amanda, of Galashiels, Selkirkshire, added: “What I’m trying to do with my children is certainly working. I am just so proud of them. “I didn’t even know Aidan knew the recovery position.” Amanda is now trying to fix up a treat for rugby-daft Aidan to reward him for his heroics. She plans to arrange for him to meet Scotland rugby star Chris Paterson. Amanda added: “Aidan is a big, big rugby fan. He plays for the Mini Maroons in Gala. “He loves Chris Paterson. I would love for Aidan to meet him. If I had a medal to give to my son, I would.”

Heroes Among Guests for Obama’s Speech to Congress

From the NYTimes.com – February 25, 2009

Seated in Michelle Obama’s box on Tuesday night were living symbols of the ideas in President Obama’s first speech to a joint session of Congress, including a bank executive, Leonard Abess, who shared a vast fortune with his employees, and an eighth-grade student from South Carolina, Ty’Sheoma Bethea, who in a letter had urged Congress not to neglect education financing.

Mr. Obama used a line in Ty’Sheoma’s letter, “We are not quitters,” as one of his closing themes.

Mr. Abess split $60 million among several hundred current and former workers at his bank.

Other guests sitting with Mrs. Obama included Lilly M. Ledbetter, whose Supreme Court case resulted in Congressional action to prevent wage discrimination, and Jonathon N. James, an Army veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan.

Bob Dixson, the mayor of Greensburg, Kan., which was destroyed by a tornado in May 2008, was also invited. Mr. Obama praised the spirit of that community, which is being redeveloped as an energy-efficient “green town.”

Two other guests were sophomores at Washington high schools, Akrem Muzemil and Francisco Rodriguez. Both plan on attending college and are interested in studying engineering.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the pilot who safely landed a jetliner in the Hudson River last month, saving 150 passengers and four other crew members. Mr. Sullenberger’s first officer and a flight attendant also sat in the speaker’s box.

Ms. Pelosi also chose to give two of the prime seats to labor leaders, John J. Sweeney, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union.

Local Man Rescues Unconscious Neighbor from Burning Trailer

From mycentraljersey.com – February 23, 2009

One of two borough residents who rescued a resident from a fire last month was honored at a council meeting earlier this month.

Francisco Garcia, of Dalbert Street, was given a certificate by Mayor Daniel Reiman at the end of the meeting for helping to pull an unconscious victim from a blaze inside their home on Jan. 17.

The other hero, David Zullo, who works as a mechanic at the municipal garage on Roosevelt Ave., was not present at the meeting.

“If I hadn’t noticed (the fire), who knows what would have happened (to the victim),” said Garcia, a six-year resident of Carteret. “Once I went to the window and heard a tweak inside, I thought to myself, hey, that’s a life in there. I have to do something.”

According to Fire Chief Brian O’Connor, fire officials received a report of a mobile home fire at 26 Dalbert St. around 6:50 p.m. on Jan. 17. When Engine 3 arrived, firefighters found a working fire with heavy smoke coming from the trailer.

Before the arrival of the fire engine, Garcia, 27, was walking down the street when he saw smoke coming from the trailer. He ran up to the structure and peeked inside a window to see a fire inside, O’Connor said.

“I was going to see a friend of mine, and going by, I happened to see the flames and the door and I told my neighbor to call the cops,” said Garcia. “I went in, and she stayed outside on her cell phone.”

Garcia took a shovel and forcefully removed the front screen door of the trailer. He then entered the trailer and removed a recliner chair that was on fire, O’Connor said.

At this time, Zullo arrived at the scene and attempted to enter the trailer but was unable to because of the heat and flames, O’Connor said. Zullo — who declined comment for this story — then yelled into the trailer and heard moaning from inside.

“(Zullo) came, and when I saw him, I ran to the back door because I told him there was a back door on the opposite side (of the trailer),” said Zullo. “I went back there, and like a sardine can, I ripped open the door so that (Zullo) could help.”

O’Connor said Zullo and Garcia went around to the back of the trailer and tried to open a rear door. Because the door was locked, the two men used their hands to partially pry open the bottom of the door, bending it about 18 inches — just enough for Zullo to crawl in while Garcia held the door open.

Zullo had crawled in about 2 to 3 feet when he thought he bumped into a blanket on the floor — when the heavy smoke cleared just for a second, he saw that it was actually the head of the victim, O’Connor said.

Zullo dragged the victim to the rear door, which was being held partially open by Garcia. Both rescuers then pulled the victim out and carried him to the front of the trailer, where firefighters took over and began first aid.

O’Connor was taken to Saint Barnabas Burn Center in Livingston to receive treatment for respiratory problems, staying in that hospital for a week before checking into a rehab center. The victim is expected to make a full recovery from the injuries sustained from the fire, O’Connor said.

“If not for the actions of both these two heroes, I’m almost certain that the victim would have died,” said O’Connor. “These men are heroes.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, said O’Connor.

Hero Father Dies in Housefire After Saving Children

From Courier-Journal.com: February 19, 2009

Michael Dickerson was remembered as a man of “awesome, awesome love” as more than 300 mourners turned out yesterday for his funeral at St. Stephen Church in Louisville.

Dickerson, 27, died in a fire Friday in Jeffersonville after first saving his infant son and his fiancée’s 2-year-old son by tossing them to safety from a second-floor window of their townhouse. Dickerson and a friend first tried to extinguish the fire that began shortly before 8 a.m. in the first-floor living room of the apartment at 1901 Barbara Court.

When they couldn’t put out the flames Dickerson went back upstairs to get the children. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend,” said the Rev. Billy Hollins. “If you knew (Dickerson) that sounds just like him.”

Dickerson managed to throw 2-year-old Jayden Crawford and 3½-month-old Canaan Dickerson out the bedroom window to the friend waiting below before he succumbed to smoke and could not get out.

The children Dickerson saved were regulars in the St. Stephen day-care program, and he was usually the one to bring them, day-care director Sharnett Wilkins recalled. “Michael’s one of my top five No. 1 dads that I’ve seen” in 15 years of child-care work, Wilkins said. “He has left us with an example of love, and let’s hold on to that.” DeVone Holt, a cousin of Dickerson, said we live in a society “infatuated with heroes” of the super variety provided by Hollywood.

“But this past Friday we learned that not all heroes have super powers — that some of them earn their titles by getting up every day in a down economy and trying to find a job … (and) rejecting the notion of a thug lifestyle,” Holt said.

Dickerson had been laid off from his job as a countertop finisher seven months ago, but continued to do what he could to help fiancée Tanaya Crawford and the children, ending with the last act of his life. “Although he proved that you don’t have to have super powers to be a hero, he did show us that you have to have super compassion,” Holt said.

Holt recalled the fruitless efforts of neighbors who yelled to Dickerson to jump from the window after he had rescued the children. “When so many were screaming for him to come down he didn’t because he had a destiny to go up,” Holt said. BaRhonda Dickerson, Michael Dickerson’s sister, said her brother “was my best, best friend.” All of their recent conversations “were about him being a father. … He was so excited,” she said.

Grandmother Stops Raid

From the Independent.ie – Feburary, 17, 2009

A GRANDMOTHER was hailed as a hero last night after a ruthless gang was stopped in its tracks during a so-called tiger raid.

Businessman Julien Flynn was with his wife Emma and four children — all aged under seven — at their home at the rear of the Flynn Group’s hardware, supermarket and timber supply business in Lackagh, about 10 miles from Galway city when the drama began at around 9pm on Sunday.

Emma Flynn was speaking by phone to her mother, Colette Whelan when she heard a commotion in the rear rooms of her home. She dropped the phone and went to investigate.

She and her husband were confronted by five armed and masked men who had broken into their home. The couple were pushed onto the floor and bound with cable ties.

The gang — believed to be from Tallaght in Dublin and suspected of involvement in a number of other robberies around the country — were armed with a shotgun, a hatchet and other weapons.

Gang members then went upstairs to the children’s bedrooms and brought them to join their parents. The three older children were also tied up, while the Flynns’ six-month-old baby was left untouched.

Emma’s mother, meanwhile, had become concerned as a result of the commotion and her daughter’s unexplained dropping of the phone. She phoned Julien’s sister, Nicoletta, who lives next door and asked her to check on them.

Nicoletta and her sister-in-law, Mary Flynn, walked to the house. But when they rang the doorbell they were pulled inside by the raiders, forced onto the floor and also tied up.

But by now, Emma’s mother, Colette, was becoming increasingly concerned at her home in Galway city. She and her husband Paddy decided to phone the gardai and asked them to go to the house in Lackagh.

An unarmed male and female garda went to the Flynn home and when they approached the front door, they too were bundled inside. But a scuffle ensued, during which the male garda was struck with the hatchet.

By now, with the situation becoming unmanageable for the gang, they decided to flee. They made their way towards the rear window which they had used to gain access to the house initially. But one of them was overpowered by the gardai.

Getaway
The other four made good their escape and headed towards the nearby Woodlands estate, where they had left two BMW cars for their getaway.

Garda reinforcements, however, were on the scene within minutes and one of the raiders was arrested close to the Flynn home. A second man was found with a serious leg injury and offered no resistance when approached by gardai.

The two remaining raiders managed to get away in a dark-coloured BMW X5 which gardai believe had a 2005 registration number. They had taken a small sum of money which they found at the Flynn house.

By now, gardai had managed to reach the distraught family and free them. Nobody had been injured, but all were severely traumatised.

Checkpoints were immediately established on all approach roads to and from the immediate area. The Garda Air Support Unit joined the search early yesterday morning.

Gardai recovered the second BMW car, which had been abandoned at the Woodlands estate in Lackagh.

Forensic experts were yesterday examining it for clues and were also trawling through the various locations at the Flynn home as the family opted to stay with relatives.

“Obviously, it has been quite a traumatic night and I’d really like if you would respect our privacy a bit. We’re all fine, thank God, everybody’s fine,” said Mr Flynn.

“The guards were wonderful, they really were super and thank God we were very well looked after last night. Somebody in heaven thankfully was looking down on us.”

Gardai at Mill St station in Galway yesterday said that two of the men detained in Lackagh had been arrested and were being questioned. The third man yesterday underwent surgery at University Hospital Galway and was under 24-hour watch by gardai.

US Airways Heroes – 60 Minutes Interview

Teen Athlete Shields 6-Year-Old from Gunfire

From KCTV.com – February 5, 2009

When shots rang out at a basketball game at a local community center Friday, one of the players risked injury to save a 6-year-old boy.

Sean Merritt said he was at the game at the Tony Aguirre Community Center with his 6-year-old son, Desean, to watch the game between DeLaSalle High School and the Southeast Community Center team.The boy stepped away from his father just as gunfire started in the fourth quarter, Merritt said.Sean Merritt said 19-year-old Jullaion Jones stepped off the court and saved Desean’s life. Jones put the 6-year-old on the ground and covered him until the gunfire stopped, holding him tight even after a bullet grazed Jones in the leg.

“Jullaion moved me and hided me in the corner, and covered his body over mine,” said Desean Merritt.

It was a potentially lifesaving act of kindness that the Merritts said they will ever forget.”I almost get teary-eyed just thinking about it. It could have been worse than it was, God was really good that nothing happened to anyone. I’m glad he put Jullaion there to do what he did,” said Sean Merritt.None of the injuries was life-threatening. No suspects are in custody.

“Hotel Rwanda” Lifesaver Interview

From MotherJones – May/June 2006

In the midst of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, when machete-wielding Hutu extremists murdered 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 100 days, Paul Rusesabagina turned the hotel he managed in Kigali, the country’s capital, into an oasis of safety. His actions, which saved the lives of 1,268 refugees, inspired the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, in which he was memorably portrayed by Oscar nominee Don Cheadle. But in his recently released memoir, An Ordinary Man, Rusesabagina rebuffs suggestions that he was a hero, saying he was just doing his job. Now a critic of Rwanda’s Tutsi-led regime, which he says has turned a blind eye to revenge killings of Hutus, Rusesabagina (pronounced roo-seh-sah-bah-GHEE-nah) lives in exile in Brussels. He recently set up a foundation to help Rwandan women and orphans, and he has been speaking to audiences across the United States about his efforts to prevent future genocides. At a recent appearance in Philadelphia, where he received the first Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Humanitarian Award, the predominantly African American crowd treated him like a rock star, lining up for autographs and photographs. Sitting down after his talk, the 51-year-old Rusesabagina was affable to a fault, displaying a beguiling mix of self-confidence and modesty, boasting of his accent-free French and still insisting he’s nothing more than a hotelier.

Mother Jones: Your book’s title is interesting, because I’ve talked to Holocaust rescuers, and this is a familiar theme: “We weren’t heroes, we were just ordinary people.”

Paul Rusesabagina: Which is true. Who is a hero, actually?

MJ: If anybody’s a hero, isn’t it somebody who stands up to overwhelming force?

PR: That was nothing special. I was a hotel manager. I just kept on being a hotel manager. If to be a hero is to remain who you are, everyone would be a hero.

MJ: You’ve often been compared to Oskar Schindler because, like him, you were able to deal with the devil. People who were responsible for genocide sat down with you, and you were able to negotiate with them.

PR: I believe in one thing: Each and every heart, even the hardest, has always got a very soft, small part of it with which you can always play around and come up with a positive conclusion.

MJ: In Hotel Rwanda, your character goes from being concerned primarily with his family to embracing all his fellow Rwandans. That’s a standard movie convention; did it reflect real growth on your part?

PR: Actually, that is what happened. Initially, I was not concerned by what was going on. There was a government, there was a war, the United Nations was there. But when I saw the government completely dismantled, I had to take responsibilities. The very first day, I had 26 neighbors in my house. When I had to leave my house, I was not going to leave those people behind. So it became a very big extended family, from 6 to 32, and then 400 and something. That is how it happened—people kept on coming to the hotel. And toward the end, I had 1,268 people. It would have been easier to care for six people—my wife and four children and myself—than caring for a thousand. But if you turn your back, leave a thousand people, that’s on your hands. That is cowardice.

MJ: Do you think that the film captured the essence of your story?

PR: Definitely. My main concern was that Paul remain the hotel manager—not be transformed and manipulated in that Hollywood way of doing things.

MJ: I would think that every hotel in the entire universe would want you as their manager now.

PR: Everybody was willing to give me a job. But I wanted to do something different. I saw myself as an independent person, self-employed. So I started driving a taxi in Brussels. After one year, I bought a second one. After three years, I opened a trucking company. And I’m a father and a husband. I’m now very busy. But I remain a hotelier. I won’t be anything else in my life.

MJ: You left Rwanda as an exile. Why?

PR: I got threats from the Rwandan government. I do not know why, but since the movie came out, the president takes me as a threat, I think.

MJ: You describe today’s Rwanda as a place of “cosmetic democracy with a shallow system of justice.” What do you mean?

PR: Rwanda has got 50,000 [accused murderers] in prison. The first priority is for justice to be done, but up to now, only a few thousand people have been convicted in Rwanda. At that speed, how many years will it take to try and convict 50,000 people? And justice is now a one-way street, only judging, trying, and convicting Hutus and ignoring that Tutsis also killed so many.

MJ: And who’s to tell the innocent from the guilty?

PR: Oh, that is the biggest problem. Almost everybody is guilty.

MJ: Except for you.

PR: Even me, I might be. [Laughs.]

MJ: In your talk, you said that history teaches us no lessons. I was surprised to hear that, because your book is very optimistic.

PR: Yeah, history never seems to teach us any lessons. But that is no reason to give up. Hotel Rwanda should be a lesson to show us what was going on in Rwanda in 1994 and remind us that it never ended. It is still happening in many different parts of Africa. Nobody talks about the Congo. And I traveled to Darfur myself, to see what was going on with my own eyes. What happened in Rwanda—it is exactly the same there.

MJ: Why did you create the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation?

PR: [Shortly after the genocide] I drove with my wife and a friend to see my wife’s sister and her husband. When we arrived, the husband had been killed, and one of their daughters was killed, along with my mother-in-law. My sister-in-law remained with eight children. One of them was a young boy. She had kept him in a bag, so she could go out and people would think that she was going to buy things. Whenever she was at home, she was hiding him under the bed because the killers were hunting for boys. I took her and her children to my house. About two weeks later, her younger sister came from the Congo with her three sons. I had to create jobs for my sisters-in-law and also pay for the education of their 11 children. Today, most of them are in university. When Hotel Rwanda came out, it was then or never to create a foundation to help educate those kids and many others. The genocide left us with half a million orphans, and on top of that, AIDS keeps adding more and more. And all those kids need education. They need medical care and psychological solace. Someone, somewhere, has got to care for them.

MJ: You seem to radiate a quality of joy. If I knew nothing about you and saw you sitting across from me, I would say, “That’s a happy man.”

PR: Well, that is true. I think I’m a happy man, and I’m a blessed man. I have been able to adjust to any situation, whatever it was, in my life.

Brother Leads Sister to Safety After Father Dies

From the Winnipeg Sun – February 2, 2009
An RCMP officer is calling a Winnipeg teen a hero for leading his sister to safety in stormy conditions after their father collapsed and died on a Lake Winnipeg snowmobile trip.

The 51-year-old Winnipeg man and his two children — a 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter — were snowmobiling back to Sandy Hook after travelling across the lake to Grand Beach Saturday afternoon when the father collapsed and the children could not find a pulse.

The 14-year-old son called 911 about 3 p.m., but could not direct first responders to their location. However, he talked to RCMP regularly as he and his sister found the shore by following the sun.

FOUND KIDS

Searchers found the kids about 6 p.m. when members of the Gimli Fire Department, the RCMP and area residents located them in good health about 20 km south of Chalet Beach in the RM of St. Andrews. Both were taken to the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg where they were treated and released.

“As I said to his mother this morning, she should be very proud of the way he handled himself,” East Interlake RCMP Cpl. Greg Zaborosky said yesterday, describing the boy’s actions. “I have no doubt had he not done what he was able to do and give us the information, the situation would have turned out a lot more tragic than it did.”

“I wouldn’t expect to see this from a 14-year-old boy,” Zaborosky said. “Especially considering what he’d just gone through with his father and the conditions. It’s rare you’d have a kid be that composed and be able to think like that in this situation.”

Zaborosky described the weather during the search effort as “terrible.”

“Winds were 80 km/h, blowing snow, visibility was next to nil,” he said. “The boy did a fantastic job of relaying info to us using his compass and keeping his sister warm and knowing how to find shore.”

Zaborosky said the father had existing “medical issues” but said the cause of death would not be known until an autopsy was done.

FOLLOWED TRACKS

“According to the kids, he collapsed. They tried to find a pulse, but couldn’t find one and that’s when they took off to find help.”

Zaborosky said the search team then followed the kids’ tracks back across the lake about 16 km to the father’s location.

The search for the 51-year-old father broadened, and he was eventually located about two kilometres from Grand Marais on the east side of Lake Winnipeg about 9 p.m. He was transported to hospital in Pine Falls, where he was pronounced dead.

Boy Scout Saves Grandfather, Father, & Uncle from Drowning

From wickedlocal.com – January 26, 2009

Though his knees were shaking and his mother was on the sidelines, screaming in panic, 12-year-old Mark Andolina braved swirling ocean currents off Cape Cod to save his father, grandfather and uncle.

“It’s not every day that a 12-year-old boy rescues a former naval officer, a merchant marine officer, and an uncle at sea, but that’s exactly what happened,” said Mark’s grandfather, Michele “Captain Mike” Andolina.

To honor the young Andolina, the Boy Scouts’ Knox Trail Council gave him the prestigious Medal of Merit award at its annual recognition dinner last night at the Crowne Plaza in Natick.

The council gives the Medal of Merit to a youth or adult leader who has performed “an outstanding act of service of a rare or exceptional character that reflects an uncommon degree of concern for the well-being of others,” said Council President Paul Sliney, who presented the award.

The trouble started when Mark’s father, Mark Andolina, a former naval officer, Mark’s grandfather, Michele “Captain Mike” Andolina, a charter boat captain, and uncle, Jason Andolina, a fisherman, had taken their boat out to Monomoy Island last July 26, Sliney said.

An hour after they left, Mark’s father called home to say they had broken down and the engine wouldn’t start, he said.

They were anchored in the rough water of the rip currents at the point of the island, about 5 miles away, Sliney said.

“Mark was only 12 years old at the time, but his father told him he was the only person on the beach who knows how to drive a boat,” so the elder Andolina asked his son if he thought he could rescue them, Sliney said.

Young Mark had practiced piloting a boat with his father, but never alone, Sliney said.

He summoned his courage and skills and took the helm of a 21-foot boat, with his mother and uncle’s brother-in-law in tow. Using a compass and global positioning system chart-plotter, he located his grandfather’s boat.

“The wind was blowing directly onto the beach, so I knew I had to make sure I didn’t let it push me backward. Then I would be aground and unable to get to (them),” Mark recalled.

His uncle’s brother-in-law, who had accompanied Mark to help, got the bow anchor caught as he tried to pull it in, Mark said, remembering how the wind started to push him back to the beach.

“I had to turn around and back away. It took 15 minutes. My knees were shaking the whole time,” he said.

With guidance from his father by phone, Mark helped tow the disabled boat back to shore through difficult water, Sliney said.

“When I got to my grandfather’s boat, they were in rough water. I had to drive my boat up to them without hitting them, that way my dad could jump into my boat,” which he did successfully, Mark said.

Sliney noted that Mark had to use Scouting skills to make the rescue. “Orienteering was essential in being able to follow a course and find the boat. The self-esteem he has developed in the Scouting program gave him the confidence to know he would be able to accomplish this rescue,” said Sliney.

Mark’s parents recalled their son’s calm and resourcefulness, and his mom said she couldn’t be prouder.

“Marky never flinched the whole time,” said his mother, Linda Andolina. “Afterwards, he never bragged or even repeated the story to anyone. He just says, ‘I just did what I had to do,”‘ she said.

“I am so proud of my son, I tell everyone,” she said.

Michele “Captain Mike” Andolina said that summer day, he and his son faced a life-threatening situation: had the anchor failed, they would have been swept into the rough, 58-degree water of the rip. The boat could have capsized, and, he said, “death in that temperature is relatively short.”

He believes he is alive today because of his grandson’s work.

“Young Mark’s courage, determination, and knowledge averted a very dangerous situation. He behaved in a manner that brings credit to himself, his family, and the Boy Scout experience. And I am around to enjoy the good-natured teasing of my fellow captains for being rescued by a 12-year-old,” he said.

High School Freshman Performs Life-Saving CPR

From WabashValley – January 22, 2009

Holden smith is a freshman at Terre Haute South High School.

He plays on the junior varsity basketball team and is described as a good kid.

Now, he’s being called a hero.

In November, Holden and his family were at the Holiday Inn hotel visiting relatives. When Holden and his parents went down to the pool, they got the scenes that something was wrong.

“The little girl was up on the steps of the pool and she was screaming for her brother’s attention and he wasn’t answering her,” said Smith.

Once Holden realized the child was in trouble, he jumped over the security fence and into the pool. He pulled the child’s body out of the water and that’s when they began to administer CPR.

Eventually, the boy was revived and is now doing fine.

That wouldn’t be true if Holden had not acted when he did.

He said he didn’t have to think about jumping in. Holden’s coach says he is very proud of his athlete.

“He’s a very dedicated kid. He comes in all summer, all spring, does a ton of shooting. We’ve been proud of him in that respect. For the way he conducts himself in school and on the court, but we’re even more proud of him. What he’s done in a heroic fashion by saving the little boy at the Holiday Inn.”

Holden received a civilian service award but takes pride in another award his was given. He said, “One of the fire fighters came up to me and actually gave me his Unit Citation Metal. He told me I deserved it more then he did.”

Celebrity Chef Rescues Colleague

From Yahoo – January 20, 2009
Top Chef head honcho Tom Colicchio may be considered the “bad guy” when it comes time to axe one of the cheftestants during judge’s table, but for now this restaurateur could be called a hero.

The reality-show judge saved fellow foodie Joan Nathan from choking to death during the “Art. Food. Hope.” benefit in Washington, D.C. on Monday, according to the Internet Food Association. While being cornered by some bitter Top Chef fans who where less than thrilled about last week’s elimination of Ariane, Colicchio heard a cry for help from another famed chef, Alice Waters, and immediately ran over to perform the Heimlich maneuver saving Nathan who had a chunk of chicken lodged in her wind pipe.

“I did what anyone else would have done and was just happy to be there,” Colicchio told TVGuide.com. “I’m thrilled Joan’s well.”

Crash Landing Reveals Dozens of Ordinary Heroes

NYTimes – January 15, 2009

A US Airways jetliner with 150 passengers and 5 crew members plunged into the icy Hudson River on Thursday afternoon less than five minutes after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said everyone on board escaped safely.

Moments after the plane, a twin jet Airbus A320 bound for Charlotte, N.C., crashed into the river, at least a half-dozen small craft converged on the crippled aircraft and rescued the freezing passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants.

“It would appear the pilot did a masterful job of landing in the river and making sure everybody got out,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at an early evening news conference. “I had a long conversation with the pilot, he walked the plane twice and made sure that everybody was out.”

Some of the passengers were taken to hospitals in New York and New Jersey, and several were treated for hypothermia after being plucked from the wings of the aircraft. It was one of the coldest days of the year in New York City, with the air temperature in the 20s and water temperature about 40 degrees.

A spokeswoman for the F.A.A., Laura J. Brown, said that a flock of birds might have been sucked into the jet engines, but several aircraft manufacturers said such occurrences are rare.

The two engines on the plane were manufactured by CFM International, a joint venture operated by General Electric and Snecma, a company based in France. A spokeswoman for CFM said she did not know the age of the engines or whether they had been involved in previous incidents.

Stunned and shivering passengers who were rescued from the jetliner described a frightening scene in the three minutes from takeoff to a hard landing into the river, and then a surprisingly controlled exit from the partly submerged aircraft.

Jeff Kolodjay, 31, who was traveling with his father and a brother and was seated over the left wing, said he heard the left engine blow.

“The left engine just blew and there were flames,” Mr. Kolodjay said. “It started smelling a lot like gasoline. The pilot got on and said, ‘You guys got to brace for a hard impact.’ That’s when everyone started to say their prayers. I got to give it to the pilot, he did a hell of a landing.”

Alberto Panero, another passenger, told CNN: “Within a couple of minutes all of a sudden you just heard a loud bang, and the plane shook a bit and immediately you could smell smoke, like fire. Although it didn’t seem like it was out of control we knew something was going on because we were turning back.”

Mr. Panero added: “We just hit, and somehow the plane just stayed afloat and we were able to get on the raft and, it’s just incredible right now that everyone’s still alive.”

Mr. Kolodjay said that the plane started taking on water soon after it hit the river. “It was filled up to our waist by the time we got off,” he said.

Accounts from witnesses, including those on the Weehawken Ferry who aided in the rescue, were equally gripping.

David Watta, a 42-year old vice president of Product Management at Shermans Travel Media, was heading home on the first ferry to reach the plane.

Mr. Watta said in a telephone interview that his ferry was diverted to the plane after about two minutes out of port.

“A lot of people were in shock, and a lot of people were freezing,” he said. “They loaded about fifty onto the boat, and we gave them our coats to warm them up and tried to comfort them. We were holding people, hugging them, reassuring them, holding there hands, warming them with our body heat. We tried to take them to the back of the ferry which was warmer because it was furthest from the entrance.

He added: “We provided cell phones so they could call loved ones, a lot of them were so cold that they couldn’t dial so we dialed for them. I would say that everyone on the ferry were heroes for the day, they were all civilians who stepped up in a time of need to help their fellow citizens.”

Ms. Brown of the F.A.A. said the plane took off from Runway 4 at LaGuardia, made a left turn after takeoff, which is standard procedure, and moments later glided to an unexpected stop on the icy, gray Hudson.

Port Imperial Ferry, which operates between Manhattan and Weehawken, shut down service during the rescue operation.

Coast Guard personnel rushed to the scene, from the stations in New York and Sandy Hook, N.J. In addition there were four helicopters dispatched from Atlantic City.

Most witnesses on the Manhattan side of the Hudson recalled an eerie sight of a plane flying too low over the Hudson River, sending chilling reminders of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Fulmer Duckworth, 41, an employee at the Bank of America who watched the incident unfold from the 29th floor of his building at West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue. “It didn’t occur to me that it was a plane in the water.”

Mr. Duckworth said he saw the plane spin counterclockwise in the water, and then begin drifting down the river with the current. The plane had taken off at 3:26 p.m., and the tide was on its way out, pulling the downed craft south down the river as the number of blinking red lights on the river and the shoreline multiplied.

“Actually it looked like everybody was really calm, like on the subway platform when it’s really, really crowded, and everyone’s standing shoulder to shoulder,” he said. “Everyone was standing right up against each other on the wings.”

Witnesses said the plane, described by the manufacturer as a medium-range jetliner, floated for two or three minutes before it started to sink as it drifted downstream, its nose poking up.

“It didn’t break up at all,” Mr. Duckworth said. “Everything you could see looked perfectly intact, like you could take it out of the water and fly it.

Another witness, Matt Mireles, who sent an e-mail message to The New York Times, said that from the window of his Upper West Side apartment he saw white smoke trailing from the left engine shortly before it glided onto the icy gray water.

The Airbus has sold nearly 3,600 airplanes in the A320 series since it was introduced in 1988. There have been 19 major accidents and 631 fatalities. There have also been 33 non-fatal accidents involving engine failures, nose gear problems and minor collisions.

At the airport in Charlotte, where the flight was scheduled to arrive at 5:16 p.m. and then depart for Seattle at 6:10, the arrival board said the plane was still expected to arrive on time late into the afternoon.

But it would not.

“I just want to get warm and grab my family,” Mr. Kolodjay said as he stood on the promenade at 12th Avenue and 40th Street, blowing on his hands.