Red Cross has a special day for Palm Beach County’s everyday heroes
Published: May 18, 2006
Some heroes don’t wear capes, but they do stare down the barrel of a shotgun, battle storms named Katrina and Wilma and rescue little girls from burning buildings.
On Wednesday , the local American Red Cross chapter honored Palm Beach County’s heroes during its annual event at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.
Given gold medals with red ribbons to wear around their necks, the heroes were recognized for their courage during fire, flood, criminals and hurricanes.
Community members nominated heroes in nine categories: medical, marine rescue, good Samaritan youth, good Samaritan adult, educator, animal rescue, fire rescue, military and law enforcement. The agency also honored four local military men and women who died in combat.
Their stories elicited standing ovations, lengthy applause and sighs of amazement.
“If I was going to die, I was going to die doing something good,” said Billy Carriker, 42, of Lake Worth, who received the Good Samaritan adult award.
Last month, the handyman was at The Home Depot in Boynton Beachwhen he saw a woman being robbed by a man wearing a ski mask and holding a shotgun. Police said Carriker not only charged the gunman, but also ran after the thug without the slightest hesitation. He nabbed the gunman and held him until police arrived.
Some threats aren’t manmade, but made by Mother Nature. The D&S Airboat Rescue Team from Loxahatchee put itself in harm’s way to help others during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans last fall.
Named the Marine Rescue heroes, the team of airboat operators, including Captain Dick Douse and Scott Sprague, spent three weeks on the flooded streets of The Big Easy scouring the water to rescue stranded people and animals.
“We were running into bodies floating in the streets and that was so frustrating,” Douse said. Sprague called it a mission of heartbreak.
Local Red Cross officials called The D&S Airboat Rescue Team the first to arrive, the last to leave and the first ones forgotten when they were no longer needed — but not at Wednesday’s ceremony.
During the widespread power outages caused by Hurricane Wilma, tragedy struck the Miller family of Wellington. It could have been much worse, though, were it not for Aaron Miller, the youngest Red Cross hero.
A candle caused an early-morning fire , but the 9-year-old woke his parents and sisters, Alexa, 11, and Jadyn, 1, in time to escape. The house was half gone by the time he was able to get them all up.
“This is really cool,” Aaron said as he enjoyed a chorus of accolades from Red Cross supporters. “I never got to be a hero before.”
Called upon to be heroes every day by profession, the Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue’s special operations unit from Station 31 based west of Lake Worth was given the Animal Rescue Award for saving Cyboy, a 32-year-old golden palomino trapped in a patch of mud in March. The crew worked relentlessly for four hours to free him.
“We all know how important [our pets] are in our lives,” Special Operations Capt. Ken Wooldridge said as he accepted the award. “And this was no cat stuck in a tree.”
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