By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Ordinary citizens who performed heroic acts were honored Friday. They braved bullets and saved hostages. They brought people back from the brink of death. And they prevented a home from going up in flames.
The 17 citizens were recognized at the annual Black Swamp Humanitarian Awards. Over the last three decades, more than 450 awards have been given to people who performed extraordinary acts – many times for people they didn’t even know.
Following are the acts that earned recognition.
Life Risk Award: Lt. Matt Gazarek, Sgt. Dave Molter and Officer Donny Widmer, all from Perrysburg Township Police Department.
On Aug. 27, 2018, Perrysburg Township Police Lt Matt Gazarek and other township officers were involved in a high-speed vehicle pursuit and foot pursuit, with shots fired and two hostages taken.
The pursuit started from a traffic stop. As Gazarek was taking the driver into custody and placing him into his cruiser, the passenger in the stopped car slid into the driver’s seat and took off at a high rate of speed. A pursuit was initiated by a Perrysburg City officer and was quickly joined by township officers, plus officers from Rossford, Lake Township and the Ohio State Patrol.
The vehicle being pursued crashed and the driver fled on foot with officers in foot pursuit. During the chase, the fleeing suspect turned and opened fire at Gazarek at point blank range, fortunately missing him. Gazarek returned fire and the suspect continued running with officers still in pursuit – all without the benefit of cover to protect them from gunfire.
The suspect then took two civilians hostage, putting a gun to their heads. Township officers gave verbal commands for the suspect to release the hostages and drop the gun. He refused.
Molter and Widmer were able to get clear shots and ended the situation without injury to the hostages nor any officer.
“The Perrysburg Township officers ran toward the gunfire trying to contain the suspect – all without the benefit of cover. This is the definition of true heroism,” Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said in presenting the award.
Widmer and Gazarek were modest in accepting the honor.
“We’re two of many public servants in Wood County,” Widmer said. “We did what we are sworn to do. This isn’t what we wanted to do. This is what we had to do.”
Gazarek spoke about the suspect, who was willing to shoot at officers instead of being caught for credit card fraud.
“Crime has changed,” Gazarek said.
Good Samaritan Award: Jaclyn Noirot, Jessica Bidinger, Donald Satkowski, John Taylor, Mark Bressler, Trever West, Michael Kruse, Andrew Beaverson, Ross Echler, Phoenix Neal and Jeffery Ellis.
On July 17, 2019, the Bowling Green Fire Division received a request for an ambulance to respond to the Ohio Department of Transportation facility on Poe Road for a cardiac arrest with CPR in progress. When the medics arrived, to their surprise, the patient – Robert Shirey – was sitting upright and talking.
Shirey’s co-workers on the scene stated they witnessed the patient collapsing to the ground. They immediately assessed his vitals and found he was not breathing and had no pulse. Shirey’s co-workers quickly formulated a plan and immediately started CPR and sent someone to get their AED. The AED was retrieved and was applied to the patient. It analyzed the cardiac rhythm and confirmed that a shock was needed.
Shortly after the shock was given, Shirey started breathing and a pulse quickly returned. He had received approximately 3.5 minutes of CPR. He was then taken by BG EMS to St. Luke’s Hospital for further treatment.
“The fact that Robert is standing here with us today is because of the quick actions and unwavering confidence and professionalism” of his co-workers in giving immediate CPR and the lifesaving shock to his heart, Bowling Green Fire Chief Bill Moorman said in presenting the awards.
Good Samaritan Award: Jerry L. Houtz Sr. and Jerry L. Houtz Jr.
On Feb. 13, 2019, father and son Jerry Houtz Sr. and Jerry Houtz Jr. were eating out at the Petro Stopping Center, off Interstate 75 in North Baltimore.
Another man, a truck driver, dining at the restaurant began choking. By time the Houtzes got over to his table, the man was blue. They pulled him from his seat, and began doing the Heimlich Maneuver. For an estimated 15 minutes, the men tried to dislodge the food. Eventually, they were successful in getting it moved enough that the patient was getting air. However, he was still having difficulty when the EMS squad arrived.
But the involvement of the father and son gave the truck driver another chance at life.
“It really is a team effort, all the way around,” Houtz Jr. said.
“We were very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time,” Houtz Sr. said.
Good Samaritan Award: Christy Korb
On May 16, 2019, the Weston EMS was called to the park in front of the station, for a 30-something-year-old man down, not breathing. Bystanders stated that this young man just “fell the ground and wasn’t breathing.”
Christy Korb, who used to be an EMT years ago, happened to be dropping her husband off at the fire station for training and witnessed a woman screaming. They stopped, and she checked the patient, and started CPR.
A Wood County Sheriff’s deputy arrived and administered Narcan. When the EMS arrived, the patient was still unresponsive but breathing.
The EMS took control of the scene and the patient regained consciousness, denying that this was an overdose. The deputy stated that there was suspected paraphernalia in the portable restroom in the park. The patient was able to stand, then sit on the cot, then was moved to the ambulance, treated and transported to the hospital.
Without the intervention of Korb and the deputy, this patient very will might not have had the positive outcome that he experienced, said Weston EMS Chief Kathy Heyman.
“I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time,” Korb said.
Good Samaritan Award: Chad Wozniakowksi
On March 4, 2019, Chad Wozniakowski noticed smoke at the home of Ron and Tracy Bechstein on Sand Ridge Road, outside Bowling Green. He stopped at the home and banged continuously on the door of the home until the family’s daughter answered.
Ron was at a doctor’s appointment and Tracy was sleeping after working third shift. Wozniakowski had seen the smoke in back of the family’s garage and assumed correctly that there was a fire. He knew what needed to be done, even when the family didn’t at first.
According to the Bechsteins, Wozniakowski worked tirelessly to help the family save their belongings, without stopping until all that could be done was done. He then disappeared without waiting for a thank you.
The family lost quite a bit in the devastation, but without a doubt, had Wozniakowski not stopped and alerted them, there would have been an entirely different ending to this story.
“I never met him before that day,” said Ron Bechstein, who has been in the fire service 35 years, with 25 years as chief of Central Joint Fire District.
“If that fire would have had a little bit more time, we would have lost everything,” Bechstein said.
