SEATTLE, March 9, 2010— The American Red Cross Serving King & Kitsap Counties today announced those who will be honored on March 11th for their heroic acts in the past year. Fifteen people will be recognized at the Fourteenth Annual Red Cross Heroes Breakfast, sponsored by Costco Wholesale. 

The 2010 Red Cross Heroes Breakfast will be held from 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. on March 11th at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in downtown Seattle.  Tickets are required and available by calling (206) 726-3548. 

The Stories:

Youth Good Samaritan:  Bergen Till

Eight year-old Bergen Till was playing with his godfather and his three year-old brother Neville one night last spring while his mom made dinner. Neville was snacking on beef jerky and started to choke.

Before the adults could respond, Bergen ran across the room, spun his brother around, clasped his fists just below Neville’s sternum and started to perform textbook-perfect abdominal thrusts. The food dislodged, and the Neville started breathing normally again.

When his mother asked Bergen how he knew what to do, he told her that “two Red Cross ladies” had come to his school and taught his class. The year before, AmeriCorps youth program educators with the Red Cross had visited his elementary school for a Basic Aid Training demonstration, which includes what to do if someone chokes. The instructors showed Bergen where to put his hands and how to use the right amount of pressure. A year later, Bergen remembered the lesson when he needed it most.

Sponsor: Costco Wholesale

Compassion in Action:  Brad Howell

Every  48 hours on average, the American Red Cross Serving King & Kitsap Counties responds to a local disaster like a house fire or flood. Those incidents often happen in the middle of the night, and Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteer Brad Howell is often the person who gives up hours of his time, sleep and comfort to help those in need.

“Brad is there meeting the needs of people in their time of crisis,” said Red Cross volunteer Madeline Lovell.  “He really brings a sense of caring to people affected disasters.”

Brad has served as a DAT captain and a shelter volunteer for six years, on call one week out of every three. As a captain, Brad leads a team of more than 20 volunteers, responding to disasters and coordinating overall responses, including large-scale events where shelters need to be opened.

In shelters or late-night disaster scenes, situations can be chaotic, with families who had to evacuate their homes with only the clothes they were sleeping in. “Brad’s team members are consistently impressed with Brad’s sense of calmness, no matter what the situation,” said Kale Rose, Red Cross Client Services Coordinator. “He is a great leader and an excellent Red Cross volunteer.”

Sponsor: PEMCO Insurance

Adult Good Samaritan:  Aaron Pierce and Crystal Chi

On a cool evening in October, 40 year-old husband and father David Borgens left his Auburn home for his regular run. He was not feeling well so he stopped at Mountainview High School to catch his breath. Instead, he lost consciousness.

A witness saw him collapse and ran into the school for help and found assistant athletic trainer Aaron Pierce and 16 year-old Crystal Chi, who had both been trained in Red Cross CPR. Crystal had the presence of mind to bring the school’s AED (automated external defibrillator)[  as they raced to David’s side. They found him blue in the face and gasping for breath. Aaron began chest compressions while Crystal tracked his pulse. When it stopped, the two launched full CPR and applied AED panels to David’s chest. After the machine took its assessment, Aaron delivered a shock and then continued chest compressions and rescue breathing until the paramedics arrived.

David was rushed to Valley Regional Medical Center, where he underwent cardiac surgery and has since recovered. Today he is back at work and grateful for Aaron and Crystal’s quick response.

Sponsor: Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI)

Courage in Action:  Terri Yellam and Susan Yager

In 2008 Terri Yellam took a Red Cross CPR course through her employer, Lakeside Milam Recovery Center in Burien. Her instructor remembers that Terri was very involved in that class, asking questions and staying focused.

The training and Terri’s attention to detail became life-saving tools last spring. She was attending a wedding near Tacoma when a friend, Chris Osborne, collapsed at the next table. Terri’s Red Cross training kicked into gear, and she took charge of the situation. She checked his airway, which was clear, but he wasn’t breathing. Terri ordered someone to call 9-1-1. She was joined by another wedding guest, Susan Yager, who also knew CPR, and the two started chest compressions and rescue breaths.

The next seconds felt like hours. Terri remembered her Red Cross instructor repeating to her class that “even if you don’t do it right, at least you’re doing something.” She kept breathing for Chris[  while Susan did chest compression for 15 minutes, until the EMTs arrived at the wedding location.

Chris spent a week in the hospital, but is now back to work. “Terri was there for me,” he says. “If it was not for her I would not be here and I realize that every day.”

Sponsor: Regence Blue Shield

Commitment to Community:  Serges Hakizimana

Before Serges Hakizimana was born, his parents fled the ethnic violence of Burundi. They educated their son in refugee camps, not an easy task when most refugees are illiterate. Although safe from the violence that drove them from their homes, Burundian refugees faced new challenges of confined living, being told where to live and what to eat. They were never required to pay for the things they were given, but nor were they permitted to have jobs or earn money.

In 2007, Serges was one of the first Burundians who relocated to the King County area. Recognizing his unique skill with language, his case worker directed him to the Red Cross Language Bank in Seattle, where Serges learned how to bring people together and help them understand each other. From there he started organizing people in other ways, establishing community funds, cultural training and more.

There are now 30 Burundian refugee families in the Seattle metro area who rely on Serges as their leader. He has taught some of them enough English to find work, and helped others get a small business loan to establish a farm in Kent. Through it all, he serves as a role model, balancing his time between work, volunteer, school and community.

Sponsor: The Boeing Company

Service in Action:  Natalie Marr

When major wind storms hit the Seattle area in 2006, high school student Natalie Marr and her family were left with no electricity and little heat for eight days. Natalie, now a senior, learned from the experience and decided to make preparedness her focus for earning a Girl Scout Gold Leadership Award. She created a project to educate students and teachers about emergency and disaster resources available in King County and helped them create their own personal emergency plans.

Natalie hosted a preparedness booth at her school for a week. She and her volunteer student advisory board provided information tables during lunch periods about disaster preparedness for earthquakes, winter storms and H1N1. She also organized a collection of supplies to assemble into disaster kits and donate to at-risk populations. 

“I think it is important to get everyone prepared for a disaster so when the time comes, they are ready,” Natalie says.

Sponsor: Safeco Insurance

Community Leadership: Gordon and Mynra Conger

During western Washington’s catastrophic floods last winter, Gordon and Myrna Conger coordinated the relief efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) in connection to the ongoing Red Cross response. More than 8,000 LDS volunteers went house to house in Lewis County, helping to provide food to people affected by the floods and cleaning up in the weeks that followed.

“The partnership with the Red Cross helps us deliver our volunteer services to the community,” says Gordon Conger.

Months later, when King County faced the possibility of wide-spread flooding throughout the Green River valley, the Congers stepped up again. When they heard that the Red Cross was preparing for the potential need for more and bigger shelters, they helped coordinate the disaster training and volunteer registration of more than 200 new shelter volunteers through the Red Cross ReserveCorps program.

Their warmth and commitment to disaster relief makes western Washington a more prepared place to live. “Gordon and Myrna are two of the most genuinely kind people who really care about our community that I probably have ever met,” adds Susan Pelaez, Red Cross Director of Preparedness and Community Engagement. 

Sponsor: Puget Sound Energy

Fire Rescue: Captain Michal Proux, Michael Bain, Lt. Roy Luquette, Marcus Rismiller & Nathan Blakeslee

In July 2009, the Renton Fire Station 11 Team had responded to a number of smoke investigation calls due to holiday fireworks. But one call turned into a much larger incident and rescue. 

 Upon arriving at the boardinghouse in downtown Renton, firefighters could see flames in the second story windows, and smoke poured from the building. One of the firefighters noticed a man sticking his head out of the second floor window, apparently trapped by the flames. Working with Mike Bain and engine driver Marcus Rismiller, he moved an engine closer to the building and extended a rescue ladder to the victim in the window. 

Bain climbed the ladder toward the victim, talking to him to keep him calm, while other firefighters entered the building with hoses to fight the flames from inside. He was only partly up the ladder when a burst of smoke surrounded the man in the window and poured out around him. Panicked, the man threw himself out the window and slid headfirst down the ladder toward Bain. The experienced firefighter held his balance and caught the falling man, helping him down the rest of the ladder and into the care of waiting rescue teams.

“The crew did an outstanding rescue and it worked out well,” said Chief Karl Rufener, Renton Fire & Emergency Services.

Sponsor: Overlake Hospital Medical Center

The American Red Cross is a non-profit, humanitarian agency dedicated to helping make families and communities safer at home and around the world.