An airman who protected his unit from insurgents in Afghanistan.
A pair of Tucson police officers who used CPR to resuscitate a baby.
An Oro Valley officer who used his medical training to save an assault victim.
They and other frontline responders will be honored Thursday as part of the annual Heroes Day sponsored by Jack Furrier Tire & Auto Care and the University of Arizona Medical Center.
A 9:30 a.m. awards ceremony will kick off Heroes Day at La Encantada, 2905 E. Skyline Drive. Speakers include Dr. Peter Rhee, chief of trauma at UAMC, and Nohemy Hite, wife of slain Tucson Police Officer Erik Hite.
liFesaving action
Officer Brian Carr, with the Oro Valley Police Department, is one of the honorees.
On Feb. 21, Carr responded to a fight in a parking lot and found the victim on the ground with his attacker on top of him. The officer ordered the attacker to the ground at gunpoint and detained him until other officers arrived. Carr then began life-saving measures on the victim, who had a stab wound to his neck along with several broken ribs. Carr stabilized the victim while waiting for paramedics to arrive and took him UAMC for surgery. Carr’s actions saved the victim, Heroes Day organizers said in a news release.
Carr said he and other Oro Valley Police officers were issued first-aid kits and trained in how to use them for just such emergency situations.
“I’m just honored to be chosen for this,” Carr said, but “I was just lucky to be the first person on the scene. Any officer in our department — or the other law enforcement agencies — who arrived would have done the exact same thing.
“My youngest daughter asked me why I liked being a police office and I told her, if I can make a positive impact on somebody every day, it’s worth it.”
Other honorees
- Technical Sgt. Jeremy Pye, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. During his six-month deployment with Army Special Operations Forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Pye conducted 61 combat missions and disabled 18 improvised explosive devices. He was placed in imminent danger when about a dozen Taliban fighters attacked his unit, firing machine guns in close range.
He left his vehicle, helped set up a hand-held mortar system and launched four rounds at the attackers. During the firefight, the mortar system stopped working. Pye retrieved a shoulder launcher from his vehicle and fired 54 more rounds.
This action allowed friendly forces to maneuver on the enemy while keeping them from advancing closer to Pye’s unit.
- Officer Leanna Hitchcock and Sgt. Michael Humphries, Tucson Police Department. Hitchcock was patrolling on Tucson’s south side when another driver began honking to get her attention. The woman indicated her baby wasn’t breathing. Hitchcock pulled her over and began CPR on the 4-month-old child.
Humphries heard the call for paramedics and rushed to the scene to aid with the CPR until Tucson Fire Department personnel arrived.
Because of their quick actions, the infant survived.
Heroes Day was established in 2008 to honor Officer Hite, who was shot and killed in the line of duty, and to thank law enforcement members who serve the state and put their lives at risk every day.
This year’s Eric Hite Group Award will be presented to officers Charles Foley, Dan Bustamante, Daniel Martinez, Jeff Dellinger, Oscar Ramos, Pablo Camargo, Randy Lucero and Wayne Formoe, and Sgt. Gary Downward of the TPD.
The men responded to a call of a bank robbery April 17. Just moments after the officers took up their positions outside the bank, the robber left the building with a gun in his hand. The man refused to drop his gun and instead walked to his vehicle and got more ammunition before returning to the bank.
Before he reached the front door, Camargo, Dellinger, Lucero, Martinez and Ramos fired their guns, striking the suspect multiple times. Once the man was down and his handgun was out of his reach, Foley tried, in vain, to render first aid.
