Local heroes honored for their courage and caring

By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN

BG Independent News

 

Local heroes were recognized Friday evening for saving accident victims, preventing a child from drowning, and stopping a man planning to jump from an overpass.

“This is a celebration of what we do right in Wood County,” said State Senator Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green.

Wood County has been doing it right for 30 years now by handing out annual Black Swamp Humanitarian Awards. So far, 434 heroes have been recognized.

Following is a list of the people honored this year for their heroic acts.

Good Samaritan: Tom Wilhelm, Anthony Soto, Larry Miller Jr. and Brian Bonecutter

On July 30, Weston EMS was dispatched along with Milton Township Fire Department to an injury accident on Milton Road, with a possible ejection. When EMS arrived on the scene, the crew was greeted by four men who were standing by the cornfield, with a massive debris field seen all over the road.

One of the men had called 911 and then the four cleared a spot in the cornfield so the EMS would have clear access to the patient. They led the EMS crew to the patient, who was in the cornfield about 50 feet from the overturned vehicle. The patient was critically injured, alert, but disoriented, and told EMS that she was impaired. She had numerous lacerations, abrasions which were actively bleeding, and a possible arm fracture. Because of her condition, it was difficult to know if she might have had a head injury and other injuries.

The four men – Tom Wilhelm, Anthony Soto, Brian Bonecutter and Larry Miller – assisted the EMS with equipment, immobilizing the patient and transferring her to the squad – all prior to the fire department’s arrival on the scene.

The accident occurred during Wood County Fair week, when fire and EMS departments are often short-handed. If the men hadn’t stopped and helped, the outcome for the 25-year-old woman might have been much different, EMS Chief Kathy Heyman said. The patient was transported on Life Flight and was expected to make a complete recovery.

Good Samaritan: Joe Mettler

Jordan Rizziello, then a 16-year-old Otsego student, was on Route 235 when something caused him to swerve and go off the road. He over-corrected and spun into the 12-foot deep ditch.

Joe Mettler was headed down the same road, less than a minute later, and noticed something down in the ditch. He slowed, thinking it was a deer. But as Mettler got closer, he saw it was a car in the ditch and debris on the road.

It was dark, so Mettler backed up to shine his headlights on the vehicle. It was then that he saw Rizziello in the vehicle. Mettler called 911 and climbed down into the ditch to keep Rizziello as calm as possible. He stayed with Rizziello until help arrived.

Rizziello sustained a severe traumatic brain injury – the type of injury where seconds count, said his dad, John Rizziello. The teen had more than 100 microbleeds in his brain, and statistics show that less than 10 percent of people with his injuries wake up, his dad said. And those who do are rarely the same.

But Rizziello has made an amazing recovery and is about 95 percent back to his baseline, his dad said. He was in the hospital for nine days – four of which he was on a ventilator.

“Joe Mettler’s quick action gave my son a fighting chance, which is all he needed,” Jordan’s dad said, noting that many people would have just driven by. “He will forever be my son’s guardian angel.”

Good Samaritan Award: Kellie Johnson, Julie Haynes, Michelle Welling, Kerry Hite, Teri Gregg and Shellie Garver.

This award is being given to people who reacted quickly when lunchtime at an elementary went from typical to tragedy.

While serving second grade lunch at Fort Meigs Elementary School in Perrysburg, Mary Jo Ireland asked for help to sit down. She then passed out.

The lunch cashier Julie Haynes and assistant cafe manager Michelle Welling called the office and began to help Ireland. Kellie Johnson, who was standing in the hallway, saw the substitute nurse, Allie Wilkinson, running to the kitchen. By that time, Ireland had turned white and was not responsive. Secretaries Teri Gregg and Shellie Garver called 911.

During the commotion, a parent eating lunch with her child, Kerry Hite, approached the scene, said she was a nurse, and asked if she could help. By this time, Ireland was bright red/purple and was foaming around the mouth.

Kellie Johnson ran and grabbed the AED machine, Kerry Hite began to do compressions, and Allie Wilkinson started mouth-to-mouth. Johnson administered the AED machine while they continued CPR until the responders arrived.

Good Samaritan Award: Darla Baker

If she can avoid it, Darla Baker never drives country roads. But on June 4, she decided to take back roads home from Perrysburg.

As she drove down Garling Road in Troy Township, she noticed some smoke from behind a house. Initially she thought someone was cooking outside, but when she took a closer look, she saw the siding on the house was melting.

Baker hadn’t been paying attention to the road signs, so she had to drive to the end of the road to see that it was Garling Road. She called 911 and drove back to the house.

Baker, who recently had foot surgery, parked in a neighbor’s driveway and went to rouse the residents where the fire was growing. She beat on the front door and rang the doorbell.

The owner, Steven Kern came to the door, and started trying to put out the fire with a garden hose. That was a futile effort. By that time the neighbors came over and together they got Kern’s wife, Jennifer out of the house in her motorized wheelchair.

Then explosions could be heard from the house. Initially, Baker thought it might have been a gas grill tank exploding, but it turned out to be multiple oxygen tanks in the home.

Jennifer Kern passed out in the neighbor’s driveway, and was transported to a Toledo area hospital.

The Kerns were left with nothing, Baker said, noting the husband had no shoes and neither had their cell phones. Baker, who owns an insurance company in Pemberville, called the Kerns’ insurance to help them find a place to stay, and then stayed with the homeowner until the fire was extinguished.

If not for her stopping, the homeowners may not have been aware of the fire until it was too late.

Good Samaritan Award: Janet Smith

On the morning of May 21, Lois Spencer had just returned home from yoga class. She had been recuperating from hip surgery and a subsequent surgery for a fracture of the hip replacement.

Upon exiting the shower, Spencer slipped. When she landed, she knew immediately that her right leg was broken. She was alone, lying on the floor, and could not reach her phone. She was in the upstairs bathroom, with all the windows closed.

Spencer yelled for help for about 15 minutes before realizing no one would be able to hear her. So she managed to push herself up against the wall and crank open the bathroom window.

She started calling for help again. It was probably another 15 minutes before a neighbor heard the cries. The neighbor, Janet Smith, asked if she needed help, then followed the sound of Spencer’s voice to her house. Smith entered the house through the garage, called 911, and called Spencer’s husband. Smith got a nightgown for Spencer and covered her with a towel. At the hospital, an X-ray revealed she had a broken femur.

The neighbors had never met until this moment. “She followed my cries of help and then called for immediate medical help. She became my angel when I was in distress,” Spencer said.  

Good Samaritan and Service to Others: Denica Motz, Sgt. Michael Bengela and Officer Ryan Sehlhorst

On June 11, Richard Hill responded to a maintenance call about a leaking dishwasher at Denica Motz’s apartment in Bowling Green. When Motz opened her apartment door, Hill collapsed in the hallway.

Motz called 911 and was instructed by a Wood County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher how to do chest compressions. When Hill started turning blue, she called 911 again and asked them to hurry. Within a couple minutes Bowling Green police officers were at the scene and took over.

Sgt. Michael Bengela and Ptl. Ryan Sehlhorst stepped in, with Bengela doing chest compressions and Sehlhorst breathing into Hill.

Within one to two minutes, BG Fire Division had paramedics at the scene. They worked on Hill at the apartment building and then transported him to St. Luke’s Hospital.

Hill’s wife, Cheryl, said her husband had no serious health problems until that day. She arrived at St. Luke’s just as her husband was being taken into surgery, where they put in three stents.

Police Chief Tony Hetrick recommended Meritorious Service Awards for the officers. “We don’t engage in that type of lifesaving a lot,” Hetrick said.

Though all police officers in the division are trained in CPR, it’s rare to see such success. “I’m thrilled that it worked out and Mr. Hill recovered,” Hetrick said.

This was the first time for Bengela and Sehlhorst to perform CPR.

“It was nice to do something good,” Bengela said. “Most things we go out on, people end up not making it.”

The chief also praised Motz for her response.

“For someone to answer a knock on the door and have to give CPR – she was really the key to him surviving,” Hetrick said.

Service to Others: Sgt. Brian Bonnough and Deputy Patrick Mormile

On Aug. 25, Weston EMS was dispatched to a residence for an 82-year-old man who collapsed and CPR was being performed by his daughter. When the EMS arrived, sheriff’s deputies and first responders from Central Joint Fire Department were on the scene, performing CPR.

The two deputies – Sgt. Brian Bonnough and Deputy Patrick Mormile – gave the EMS a very clear report of what was going on in the residence. They weren’t far from the home when the call came in, so they responded, took over CPR until the first responders arrived, and took over patient care until the EMS arrival. They assisted with EMS equipment and with transfer of the patient to the squad.

When the squad arrived at the hospital, the patient had a pulse and was flown to a hospital in Toledo. Unfortunately, despite all efforts, he later passed away at the hospital.

The selfless actions of these two deputies gave the man a chance he may not otherwise have had, said EMS Chief Kathy Heyman.

“Our EMS was extremely grateful and appreciative of their efforts and firmly believe that they are deserving of a Black Swamp Humanitarian Award for Service to Others,” Heyman said.

In accepting the award, Bonnough said, “We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Beyond the Call of Duty and Good Samaritan: Steve Tyda and Dawn Tyda

Steve and Dawn Tyda were on their way home from Columbus earlier this year, when they pulled off I-75 in Bowling Green around 11 p.m. They saw a man standing on the overpass, facing the highway.

Steve Tyda turned around and went back to the overpass and pulled up next to the man. And Dawn Tyda asked the man if he was OK.

The man said, “I’ll be OK in about four seconds when I jump.”

Dawn Tyda got out of the car and offered to talk or pray with the man. Meanwhile Steve Tyda came up behind the man and tackled him to keep him from going over onto I-75 below. Tyda held him down until police arrived.

The man, a 49-year-old Bowling Green resident, was taken to Wood County Hospital where he was checked out by Behavioral Connections. He was transported to Flower Hospital in Sylvania for evaluation.

The man told police he had recently been suicidal.

“If he went through with it and jumped, it would affect so many people,” Police Chief Tony Hetrick said. Last year a man did jump off the I-75 overpass, resulting in several vehicles hitting him on the roadway.

Fire Chief Bill Moorman praised Tyda for helping the suicidal man.

“It was somewhat heroic, with complete disregard for his own safety,” Moorman said.

In accepting the award, Steve Tyda congratulated those heroes who don’t wear uniforms everyday. “We see this every day. We know we’re going to see the worst in people,” he said.

He praised his wife for being courageous and caring enough to get out and pray with the man, distracting him long enough that Tyda could stop him from jumping.

Life Risk Award: Bryant Switzer and Peyton Switzer

Twins Bryant and Peyton Switzer – at just 6 years old – are unlikely heroes.

The boys rescued a toddler who jumped in the deep end at a hotel pool in Florida earlier this year. When the twins saw a 3-year-old remove her water-wings and jump into the deep end, they realized she needed help.

Peyton jumped in and put his arm around the little girl. He then handed her to Bryant, who got her out of the pool. The little girl was frightened, but the twins – who took swimming lessons at the BG city pool this summer – stayed calm.

The boys’ mom, Amy Walters, of Bowling Green, said they had gone to Orlando, Florida, for a work trip when the incident occurred.

“They didn’t even think twice. They went into action,” Walters said of her sons. “We’re very proud of them.”

The boys, she said, are very comfortable in the water. “They are little fish. They’d live in the water if you’d let them,” Walters said.

“You guys are true heroes,” Bowling Green Police Chief Tony Hetrick said as he presented the boys with their awards.