Eight people — a firefighter, two deputies, a police officer and four civilians — will be honored Thursday, Oct. 15, for their actions in helping save lives. The honorees will be recognized at 9:30 a.m. at the Seventh Annual Heroes Day event at the courtyard at La Encantada, 2905 E. Skyline Drive (see box).
The 2015 Heroes Day recipients are:
- Firefighter
- Adam Kroger
- of the Golder Ranch Fire District.
On Feb. 27, Kroger was traveling on Interstate 10 near the Sonoita exit when he saw a semi-tractor trailer crash into the median. He pulled his vehicle over and ran toward the rig. The trailer had caught on fire and exploded about 20 feet away. Kroger and other motorists lifted the driver, who had a broken leg, out of the cab and placed him by the road away from the fire.
- Deputies
- Adrian Gallo
- and
- Joe Serrano
- of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
On May 16, both deputies responded to a two-vehicle head-on crash at North Bopp Road and West Camino Verde. Gallo arrived first and directed bystanders how to remove a man who was trapped inside his burning truck. He then went to help a woman in the other burning vehicle. Serrano arrived and helped Gallo pry the driver’s door open to take the woman out. Gallo suffered smoke inhalation. He and the woman were treated at Banner-University Medical Center Tucson. The injured woman died several days later.
- Officer
- Robert Kelly
- of the Tucson Police Department and his wife,
- Stephanie Kelly
- .
On Feb. 20, Kelly was off duty and he and his wife, Stephanie, at the time a nursing student, were traveling near South Houghton Road and Interstate 10 when they noticed an SUV that had rolled. They went to help; Kelly saw smoke and turned off the vehicle. They found three people lying in the road; one had died. While Stephanie and others helped the two people who were alive, Kelly helped a passenger, who was bleeding heavily in the front seat of the SUV, until medical personnel arrived.
- Civilians
- Aaron Romero
- ,
- Alexander Stewart
- and
- Andrew Miles
- .
On April 3, on Interstate 10, between West Cortaro and West Twin Peaks roads, these three men saw a car roll into an irrigation canal. There were four teenagers in the car, and the men rescued three but could not get the driver, who was trapped under water, out of the car. Two bystanders used their trucks with tow chains to lift the vehicle above the water. Miles and Stewart made sure the driver’s head remained abovewater while Romero cut her seat belt and got her out of the car. She had no pulse and was not breathing. Romero, a nurse, began CPR and the driver, Sabrina Montejano, spent five days in the hospital before being discharged.
