2009 Champions Honorees
Every year throughout the South Plains community, people perform extraordinary acts of courage and selflessness that save lives. The American Red Cross South Plains Regional Chapter recognizes a few of these heros every year at the annual American Red Cross Champions, Honoring Lifesavers of the South Plains breakfast. Proceeds from the breakfast benefit local Red Cross disaster relief and emergency services.
The volunteers, board and staff of the American Red Cross South Plains Regional Chapter would like to thank our 2009 Champions Sponsors for their support.
Presenting Sponsor
Adult Champion
Presented by
|
Animal Champion
Presented by
|
Community Champions
Presented by
|
Emergency Response Champions
Presented by
 |
Medical Champion
Presented by
 |
Military Champion
Presented by
|
2009 Emergency Rescue Champions
Brent Hackett, Chad Curry and Gus Imbarlina
Each day, Emergency Response personnel are working to save and protect lives in our community. Lubbock EMS Paramedic Chad Curry and Lubbock Police Department Officers Brent Hackett and Gus Imbarlina were first responders on the April 1st early morning call. As they approached the Charles A. Guy Park, they found a woman trapped in her SUV partially submerged in the lake. With no time to wait for a dive team, they made the heroic decision to enter the frigid water and rescue the unconscious victim. Chad broke out the back window and crawled thru the vehicle to reach the driver. As water rose in the car, he did not think twice about what the next step would be. Chad unbuckled the driver, pulled her from the car and, with the help of the police officers, swam the victim to shore!
In Chad's words, “This is what you are trained for”, but to two children, these three individuals are Champions that went beyond training, without hesitation, and saved their mother's life that day.
2009 Medical Champion
Dr. John Thomas
Every day, thousands upon thousands of people around the world go without necessary, life-changing surgery due to a lack of financial and medical resources. As a young son of Christian missionaries in his native India, Dr. John Thomas saw firsthand the inequity of medicine and realized early on that lack of means does not eliminate need. When he was fifteen his family moved to Houston, allowing him to realize his life's dream to become a physician and make a positive impact on lives worldwide.
In 1999, shortly after completing his residency, Dr. Thomas founded Operation H.O.P.E.—Healing Outreach to People Everywhere—a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering, enhancing, and enabling people from all walks of life. Since then, Dr. Thomas has led medical missions to Africa, India, the Middle-East, and South America. Once there teams of physicians, medical professionals and other volunteers provide hands-on medical training and services in orphanages and other under-served areas.
Operation H.O.P.E.'s work isn't glamorous. There are no rock stars or Hollywood campaigns for the conditions and diseases his patients suffer from, and that's exactly why Dr. Thomas seeks these patients out. "I feel there is a greater good to be done by making an impact on the world you live in. What I have become is because I am an American and it is my responsibility to give back." It's impossible to count the number of lives Dr. Thomas and his organization have saved, but through his hard work, determination, and self-sacrifice he's given thousands one of the most precious things in life: Hope.
2009 Animal Rescue Champion
Pamela Burnett
Imagine being woken from a deep sleep by your family to save a choking Scottie. That is what Pamela Burnett did and she not only saved a dog that evening but we saved five newborn pups.
Pamela had recently rescued Sugar from homelessness and as she was looking for a home for the cute Scottie, she learned that Sugar was expecting puppies. Shortly after her arrival at the Burnett home, five adorable puppies were born. After four nights of checking on the newborns and mother, Pamela was woken to perform rescue operations on Sugar.
As Sugar tried to cough up an object lodged in her throat, she passed out. Pamela, a Red Cross Instructor for 30 years, applied back blows to dislodge the obstruction. When that was not successful, she reached into the limp mother's throat and removed the debris. After two attempts, the airway was cleared and Sugar regained consciousness.
Today, Sugar and her puppies have been placed in adopted homes. Due to Pamela's Red Cross training and quick response, she is a Champion to a small family of Scottie's.
2009 Adult Champion
Sarah Martin
A beautiful West Texas day this past June lured a new student away from Tech's Freshman Orientation and encouraged him to spend a little time at the new Recreational Leisure Pool. He headed straight for the diving basin, and cracked his head on the springboard while attempting a back flip.
As soon as she saw what happened, Sarah Martin…the lifeguard in charge of the dive basin that day…blew her whistle to call for help and dove in after the student. As he laid on the bottom convulsing under 12' of water, Sarah's years of Red Cross training and experience helped her pull her large, male victim to safety. Sarah and her colleagues strapped the unconscious and fighting student to a backboard, checked for signs of life and performed CPR on him until the paramedics arrived. Due to their efforts he had regained consciousness by the time EMS arrived on the scene. The paramedics later credited Sarah and her fellow lifeguards with saving the student's life.
Texas Tech University Police Officer Michael Macias arrived at the pool in the middle of the rescue and witnessed much of what unfolded that day. In his words Sarah “went above and beyond the normal scope for any civilian” but Sarah disagrees. Ask her and she'll tell you she was just doing her job.
2009 Military Champion
Eric Salinas
Eric Salinas, a 27 year old former Marine, was sound asleep on July 29th, 2009 when a bolt of lightning struck his apartment building around 3:30 in the morning. Hearing a loud “bang”, his Marine Corps training kicked in as he jumped out of bed and woke his family. “No time to grab anything!” he told his wife and kids as he rushed them out of the apartment and across the street as quickly as possible. As they were exiting, smoke began filling the apartment and shortly after the smoke alarms began going off.
With his family safe, Eric returned to the building and starting going door to door, waking his neighbors and ensuring they got to safety. He knew many had young children...as he did...and would need every extra minute he could give them to get out in time.
Thanks in no small part to Eric's training, presence of mind and strong sense of civic duty, nobody was injured that stormy morning and will remember “the night of the fire” and not the night they lost a neighbor or a loved one. Job well done, Eric. Semper Fi!
2009 Community Champions
Petersburg EMS
As budgets tighten the decision to close an ambulance service can be one of the hardest a community has to make, but that decision was taken away from Petersburg, TX late last year. On November 21, 2008, citing lack of human and material resources, the State of Texas shut down their EMS service.
Emergency medicine is all about the clock. For every minute the brain is deprived of oxygen the chance for survival decreases by 10%. Phrases like “The Golden Hour” and “Time is Muscle” speak to the need for immediate, emergency treatment. On November 21, 2008 20 minutes was taken away from Petersburg as the nearest EMTs were now in Abernathy. Anyone experiencing a cardiac emergency had virtually no chance for survival. Unless the community acted, and acted quickly, people were going to die.
In January the Petersburg Mayor and City Council met and, with the support of community and the encouragement of Hale County Judge Dwain Dodson, hatched a plan to rebuild their EMS service. Local businesses, such as Wylie's Manufacturing, donated money and equipment. 19 Citizens volunteered their time to go through EMT school. Those that couldn't volunteer babysat or cooked food for those in class. With the support of Plainview Fire Chief Rusty Powers and instructor Gilbert Blanco, 18 volunteers passed the class, are currently going through their rotations, and will take their National Registry exams this fall.
As a result of their hard work, determination and sacrifice, the entire community of Petersburg, Texas now has a good chance of surviving a cardiac emergency. 20 additional minutes of the critical Golden Hour may now be spent on treatment instead of on driving. 18 individuals, supported by their community, haven't saved a life… they've helped save a town.
|
