Several area heroes are being honored for their bravery and heroism with the American Red Cross of Summit and Portage Counties Acts of Courage award.
They will be recognized Thursday for responding heroically in an emergency. Ceremonies will begin at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn, 3180 W. Market St.
Former Akron Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth will receive the H. Peter Burg award from the Red Cross for his years of “selfless service to the community.”
Here are brief synopses of the courageous acts by this year’s recipients:
• Florence Wang of Canfield: When an American working in China for Fairlawn-based OMNOVA Solutions needed a transfusion, there was concern he couldn’t get the necessary blood in time to save his life. Wang, a board member of the American Red Cross of the Mahoning Valley, used her Chinese connections to get him lifesaving platelets.
• Selena Turner of Akron: The 13-year-old girl recognized that a neighbor appeared listless. Even after an adult dismissed her concerns, she ran to get her grandmother and explained the man’s condition. The grandmother suspected a diabetic coma. Paramedics were called and started an intravenous injection of glucose.
• Eric Prange and James Bowman of Cuyahoga Falls: Bowman, a U.S. Postal Service employee, and Prange, a police officer, witnessed a car blow through a stop sign, strike a curb and crash into the front of a house. The two men ran to assist and found a bleeding victim in the house and the car’s driver also wounded. They tended to the women until paramedics arrived.
• Keith Dobbins of Barberton: Dobbins was knocked to the ground by an explosion, then realized a nearby mobile home was engulfed in flames. He ran to the home, where he heard a voice calling for help. He ignored the smoke and flames to enter and found a woman trying to drag a man across the floor. He came to her assistance and both survived.
• Dora Evans and Rodney Tyson: The two Summit County sheriff’s deputies were on their way to Pennsylvania when they came upon an overturned semi-truck. The driver was lying partially outside of the vehicle’s windshield, unconscious and surrounded by a pool of gasoline. They worked to free him and get him a safe distance away from the threat.
• Darrell Terry of Bolivar and Dale Palmer of Akron: Terry was on a construction site in Montrose when an electrical line shocked a co-worker. Terry tackled the man to separate him from the current. The worker was not breathing. Palmer, an employee at nearby Eddy’s Bike Shop, raced to the scene and gave the injured worker CPR.
• Mark McElroy of Akron and William McKinney of Barberton: The two Summit County sheriff’s deputies were on an extradition assignment in Arizona when they spotted a child lying motionless at the bottom of their hotel’s pool. The child was pulled from the water by the time they got to him, and they both administered CPR until he recovered.
• Heather Pariso and Lynne Trenkelbach of Akron: The two women, both nurses, reacted when a man running the Akron Marathon fell to the ground, unresponsive. He had suffered cardiac arrest. Pariso and Trenkelbach took turns applying chest compressions for several minutes until paramedics arrived to restart the man’s heart with an automated external defibrillator.
• Dr. Michael Passero of Akron: Passero was in the intensive care unit at Akron General Medical Center when a man with a gun shot a critically ill patient. Passero kept talking to the man until security arrived. He was credited with keeping the situation from escalating.
Nominations for next year’s awards — for heroism from Jan. 1, 2013, to Dec. 31 — may be made at 330-535-6131.
Tickets for this year’s ceremony still are available. For more information, call Shelley Sprang 330-535-2224.