The Southwest Washington Red Cross honored 11 adults, one teenager and a furry, four-legged friend at the 13th annual Real Heroes Breakfast on March 12.
Around 465 guests packed the Hilton Vancouver Washington for the invitation-only event, which also serves as the only fundraiser event for the local Red Cross chapter.
These heroes were honored at the breakfast:
• Roy Ostroski and Isabel Van Vladricken saved a man whose motorcycle was struck by a vehicle. The man was thrown into the front of Ostroski’s truck and wedged under the front left tire. Ostroski applied pressure to Donodvan “Dunde” Dudley’s leg and made a tourniquet out of Dudley’s jeans. Vladricken witnessed the incident, called 911, and assisted Ostroski until paramedics arrived 30 minutes later.
• Marcia Brueggemeyer jumped to action when a boy fell 40 feet off a bridge in Glacier National Park. Brueggemeyer and the boy’s grandfather rushed to a boat and found the boy more than 100 yards downstream where the boy was face down in the lake. They pulled him into the boat, and Brueggemeyer started CPR and continued all the way to an air ambulance.
• Ayre Williamson-Shilling and Andrew Kallenberger saved a 69-year-old man who collapsed on a treadmill at Lacamas Swim and Sport Club in September. When the man stopped breathing, Kallenberger performed CPR while Williamson-Shilling attached a defibrillator to the man’s chest. The defibrillator shocked the man’s heart and revived him.
• Donald Blaylock performed the Heimlich maneuver on his granddaughter after she started choking on a piece of chicken. He successfully dislodged the chicken and saved his granddaughter’s life.
• Kacy Clark, Eric Bergquist, Randy Bradshaw, Ryan Satcher and Troy Hicklin responded to a residential fire. When they arrived, frantic neighbors told them a man was still inside. The crew worked together to hold off flames and eventually found the homeowner unconscious in the kitchen and carried him to safety.
• Evan Gleaves was on the Lewis and Clark Bridge shortly after a man got out of his car and attempted to jump into the Columbia River. The man landed on a ledge five feet below the deck. Gleaves helped three other men lift him back onto the bridge by leaning over the railing and grabbing the man’s leg.
• Maximus, a dog owned by Brenda Christina, barked strangely before her owner was about to take a shower. With raised suspicion, Christina inspected the house and found her Corvette burning in the garage. Christina called 911 and left the house with Maximus. The Corvette and a Lexus SUV were totaled and Christina’s kitchen was heavily damaged.
Key sponsors of the breakfast were Fred Meyer, Tidewater, Waste Connections Inc., Corwin Beverage Company, VESTA hospitality, Rehrig Pacific Company, Stichman Legal and Mediation Services, Kaiser Permanente, Davidson and Associates Insurance and Umpqua Bank. The chapter includes Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, Klickitat, Pacific and Wahkiakum counties. For information, visit http://swwashington.redcross.org/.
