By Elizabeth Campbell
The American Statesman
Copyright 2007 The Austin American-Statesman
All Rights Reserved
AUSTIN — Don’t let me die, Heather Haenes pleaded with Mark Gustafson in January on the shoulder of MoPac Boulevard.
After a minor fender bender, Haenes, 30, and another driver had been exchanging information when another vehicle slammed into them. Haenes saw her left leg 5 feet from her body and her right leg barely attached.
When Gustafson started giving her first aid, she initially thought the man in jeans was just a bystander - but he was an off-duty Austin firefighter.
Less than five months after the accident, Haenes is presenting Gustafson, 48, with a medal of merit today during the Austin Fire Department’s annual awards ceremony at Austin City Hall. Fifty-four awards will be handed out to firefighters and citizens who have shown courage and bravery over the past year.
“One of the hardest things the awards committee faces is keeping up with the heroic actions that our members do every year,” said Lt. Mathew Rush, awards committee chairman.
On Sunday, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services will hold its annual awards ceremony at the Austin Hilton Hotel. More than 250 EMS employees will receive awards and citations, including honors for life-saving or life-giving actions such as when a baby is delivered away from a hospital. The majority of the awards are peer-nominated, said EMS spokesman Warren Hassinger.
“In this type of business, you don’t get a lot of positive feedback,” Hassinger said. “We are interacting with (the public) on what could be the very worst day of their lives.”
At the firefighter awards ceremony, Austin firefighters Doug Eickhoff and Jerry Miller will receive medals of valor, the highest honor given to those who risk their lives to save someone else.
Miller pulled two young girls out of a burning car while off duty last Valentine’s Day. Eickhoff was playing catch with his 10-year-old son when he saw smoke coming from a neighbor’s house, then went into the house in shorts, sandals and a T-shirt and dragged his neighbor to safety.
While they say they are honored to be recognized, several award winners said they feel embarrassed to receive an award for doing what they say is just part of their job.
But Haenes said it’s important for the firefighters to be honored “because they make miracles happen.”
Gustafson, a 20-year veteran, was running errands on his way to work when he saw Haenes’ accident and realized help hadn’t yet arrived.
“Pandemonium would be an understatement” to describe the scene on the highway, he said.
Without gear, gloves or a crew, Gustafson directed bystanders, worked to get Haenes’ bleeding under control and called emergency personnel who had received wrong directions, he said.
“The bottom line is, on duty or off, we’re firefighters 24/7,” Gustafson said.