SARASOTA, FL - The Sarasota County Fire Department said thank you and handed out awards Tuesday to those in the department and civilians who saved a life in the last year.
It was a gathering of heroes at Sarasota County Fire Station #2. The youngest hero was 7-year-old Rita Lawlor, who is credited with saving her mom's life. She became concerned when she couldn't wake her mom up, so she took action. "I called 911, but first I slapped her with a piece of pizza."
When that pizza didn't wake her mom, she knew she had to get help. The fire chief told the crowd she was very calm when she spoke to the 911 operator. "They did ask where I lived and my number, and I had to tell them what kind of house and I had to stand outside on the lawn and I saw the ambulance coming."
"As we pulled up on the scene we noticed there was a little girl standing on the front of the drive way standing by a van. She had the telephone in her hand. We walked up and said 'are you the one who called 911?' And as we walked up she started telling us what was going on. She couldn't wake up her mom. She kept trying to wake her up and just couldn't wake her up, so she called 911," says firefighter/paramedic Chris Zengel.
Rita's mom is fine now. Rita was thrilled with her award and the special goody bag she received.
An award also went to the firefighters and paramedics who responded to the home of Burt Wizeman, where his stepdaughter Rachael had just been electrocuted. "She was helping me in the evening put up an antenna and the part that she was holding tapped a power line. Rachel took a 120-volt shock at 50 amps, causing her heart to go into fibrillation."
“When we heard an electrocution had gone out and we heard there was a 22-year-old female possibly in cardiac arrest we responded with and and got her heart beating before we left the scene," says firefighter/paramedic Sandra Anderson.
Rachael's family says she is still improving from her ordeal. She was there to greet her heroes and thank them. It meant a lot to those who fought for her life. "It's heart-warming, because it's not often we get to see the outcome of our efforts and this one of those rare incidences that we do."
There was also a letter of commendation to lifeguard Terese Phillips who saved the lives of a mother and two children, and several awards to firefighters and paramedics who saved the life of a person in cardiac arrest.
We here at ABC 7 would also like to add our thanks and congratulations to all those award winners.
