Teen rescues 77-year-old man
Published: March 23, 2007
John Tyschuk raced into his neighbour’s burning garage and pulled the 77-year-old man to safety.
“I couldn’t see a foot in front of me,”said the 44-year-old Tyschuk of the Sunday night incident near 156 Street and 80 Avenue. “I felt around and saw a shadow of a figure and I thought, ‘If that’s John, I gotta get him out of here.’
“I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and I dragged him out.”
Paramedics took his neighbour, John Kenneth Sorochan, to the Misericordia hospital where he was treated and released yesterday.
Tyschuk’s family are calling him a hero.
His mother, Lena Brauer, says she’s proud of her “Johnnie.”
“I thought what he did was great and I think he’s a hero,” said Brauer, 75.
It all started Sunday around 7:30 p.m., Brauer recalled. She and John were watching the Brier when he stepped into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. He noticed smoke coming from his neighbour’s garage. When he opened his window he heard the engine of a car revving.
“I knew there had to be something going on,” he said. He quickly raced over to the house and rang the doorbell and yelled for Sorochan. When he got no answer, he raced to the garage, where thick black smoke was billowing.
“I took a deep breath,” and went in. He made his way to the driver’s side of the Toyota Tercel and tried to feel for the key to turn off the ignition.
Brauer watched anxiously from the window of the house next door as smoke poured from the garage.
“When John went into the garage, I couldn’t see him coming out and I got scared,” she said.
When Tyschuk dragged Sorochan out, the older man was conscious, breathing and “babbling.”
“I said, ‘John, stay with us,’ ” said Tyschuk.
Yesterday a grateful but retiring Sorochan said he had been trying unsuccessfully to put his Tercel into reverse when he passed out.
“I’m glad he pulled me out,” said Sorochan. “That was nice of him to pull me out. I’m going to have to thank him.”
It was the second time a member of the Tyschuk family pulled a person from a burning wreck.
Six years ago Tyschuk’s brother, Ron, hauled their brother Gerry from a burning wreck near Smithers, B.C. while on a fishing trip. Gerry’s Chevy pickup and camper collided head-on with another truck.
Ron raced to the pickup, smashed the window and pulled his brother to safety.
Edmonton fire department spokesman Nikki Booth said the cause and starting point of the fire are not known. She commended Tyschuk’s quick actions but added fires can spread quickly. She said civilians should call for help if they see a fire and leave the rescue work to trained professionals.
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