By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Friday was a big day for Kenneth Seeley. It was the first day in more than five months that he walked, and it was the day he got to thank the men who pulled him from a burning vehicle.
“If it wasn’t for your quick response, I wouldn’t be here today,” Seeley said, from his wheelchair. “You are my hero.”
Eleven such heroes were honored Friday evening during the 28th annual Black Swamp Humanitarian Awards. They were recognized for not walking away from strangers in need, or risking their lives to help save others.
They were called upon to help people when least expected – at the movies, on the golf course, or driving around lighting luminaries on Christmas Eve.
Those honored for Good Samaritan Awards were Wesley Stiner, Corey Stulpin, Thomas Harper, Robert Fyfe and James Oberlander. Presented with a Service to Others Award was Bowling Green Patrolman Tyson Richmond. And recognized with Life Risk Awards were Dino Babers, Chelsea Lowe, Brian Robinson, Brandon Conine and Conner Beck.
Following are their stories.
Brian Robinson, an off-duty police officer, and Brandon Conine, an ODOT employee, both responded when they saw Kenneth Seeley’s truck off U.S. 6, on fire in a stubble field. They pulled Seeley from the blazing vehicle and Robinson performed CPR.
“It truly is a miracle,” that the men were able to save Seeley, said Kathy Heyman, Weston EMS chief.
Robinson agreed, saying “I wasn’t even supposed to be going that way,” when he happened upon the accident.
“This man has a long journey ahead,” Robinson said, motioning to Seeley. “I can’t wait to see you make strides and get better.”
Seeley was overwhelmed with gratitude. “Brian obviously thought I was worth saving,” he said. “You saved my life.”
Though they were not able to be present at Friday’s event, two former members of Bowling Green State University’s athletic staff were honored. Former head football coach Dino Babers and assistant athletic trainer Chelsea Lowe were on a team bus headed back from a game in Buffalo, New York, when a car swerved in front of the bus, hit the median and caught on fire.
Babers and Lowe were credited with pulling the driver out of the burning car.
“Had Babers and Lowe not selflessly helped,” the driver may have perished, said Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn as he talked about the award.
The youngest recipient Friday evening was Conner Beck, 9, a Scout from Bradner. Conner and his dad, Aaron Beck, were headed home from a BGSU hockey game on a cold winter night when his dad passed out from abdominal pains. Their truck went off Route 6, and ended up on the railroad tracks about 30 feet from the road.
Conner, who had learned from his volunteer firefighter dad, turned on the truck’s emergency lights and called 911. He then went out to the edge of Route 6 to flag down help.
“He could have become a victim himself,” said Scouting leader Kathy Bomer.
Conner’s dad expressed his gratitude to his son. “It amazes me how he knew what to do,” Beck said.
Tyson Richmond, a Bowling Green patrolman, was the first on the scene to an apartment building where he found an 18-year-old man not breathing. The man had overdosed on heroin, said Bowling Green Police Chief Tony Hetrick, who presented the award.
Richmond gave the man multiple doses of Narcan, and performed rescue breathing – and was credited for helping the man survive with no lasting effects from the overdose. Richmond also praised the Bowling Green Fire Department for responding so quickly.
Two men, Robert Fyfe and James Oberlander, responded when Larry Park collapsed at the movie theaters in Bowling Green. Fyfe, a volunteer EMT, and Oberlander, a nursing instructor, jumped into action, and showed “willingness to help a stranger in his time of need,” said Ryan Lee, who presented the award. The two men revived Park and kept him stabilized until the EMS arrived.
“It really never happens, unless you’re watching TV,” Oberlander said, explaining real life is not like “ER” or “Scrubs.”
“To walk in tonight and see him sitting there was obviously the best part of the story,” he said about Park.
Fyfe agreed. “All too often, we walk away without knowing the outcome.” But on Friday evening, the three men got to share a table for dinner. “It is really a thrill to talk to that guy over there,” Fyfe said of Park. “He’s quite a character.”
Corey Stulpin was helping to light luminaries on Christmas Eve in Dowling when he spotted a person lying on the ground. He asked the driver to turn back, and there he found Dan Schimmoeller incapacitated and called for EMS. Schimmoeller had been working on concrete with muriatic acid and had passed out from the fumes. His wife was ill in bed, so she was unaware that her husband had collapsed.
“If Corey had not noticed him laying on the ground,” he likely would not have been found till daylight, Wasylyshyn said.
Stulpin shared the credit for his actions. “What makes doing things like this second nature, is being surrounded by good people,” who would have done the same, he said.
Thomas Harper was presented with his award by the man he saved – retired Bowling Green police chief Gary Spencer. The two friends were golfing when Spencer collapsed with a stroke. Harper managed to get his friend into the golf cart, though Spencer’s right side was paralyzed. Harper called 911 and got medical aid for his friend.
Spencer was given medication to dissolve the blood clots, sent by air ambulance for further care, and made a full recovery.
Spencer marveled that Harper was able to maneuver him onto the cart and drive him to safety.
“I knew I had to get him off that golf course” and get him to medical care, Harper said.
Wes Stiner was driving in Bowling Green when he noticed Geraldine Emmons, 90, having trouble getting to her car at her home. He offered to driver her to her doctor’s, who told Emmons she needed to go to the hospital for an X-ray. So Stiner took Emmons to the hospital and waited until a family member arrived, spending more than three hours helping a stranger.
“She needed help and I wasn’t going to walk away until she had someone with her,” Stiner said.
When Emmons’ daughter arrived from her home in Ottawa, she found Stiner waiting at the hospital, where her mother was diagnosed with a fractured back. “He was sitting there like she was his grandma,” Karen Heckman said.
Emmons said she somehow knew Stiner could be trusted. “I never saw him before. He never saw me before,” she said. “He was my angel who just appeared at the right time.”
