If Matthew Aamot had it to do all over again, the only thing he'd do differently is run faster.
Aamot was nearby when shots rang out on the last night of this summer's Northwest Washington Fair, injuring three people. When he saw a 15-year-old boy run by with a gun, Aamot chased him and pointed him out to a Lynden police officer, who arrested the youth.
Aamot was one of nearly 20 people who received a Real Heroes award from the Mt. Baker chapter of the American Red Cross at a dinner Thursday night, Dec. 1. The awards honor people from Whatcom and Skagit counties who go beyond their duty to help save lives. Aamot received the Public Safety Hero award.
While Aamot said he's honored to receive the award, he said he just did what he thought was right in the moment.
"The real hero is the officer who did the hard work," said Aamot, a Custer resident and manager of Lynden Farm and Garden. "I just happened to lose my mind and chase a guy through the fairground."
Here are the other honorees for this year's Real Heroes awards.
- John Bartleson, Lifetime Achievement Hero. Bartleson is a paramedic and firefighter who began Firefighters for Fun more than 30 years ago in an effort to teach children and families about fire prevention and safety. He bought an antique fire engine from New York to make his lessons more interesting.
- Wes Armey, Sedro-Woolley Fire Department Hero. The Sedro-Woolley firefighter was off-duty when he stopped on the North Cascades Highway to help an injured bicyclist. He was able to stabilize the man and stayed with him for 90 minutes until an ambulance reached the remote area.
- Teachers Chelle Dunham, Barb Lambert and Les Maxwell; teacher's assistant Georgean Wiley; and students Torrey Hansen, Kyle McCaffery, Jonathan Wiley and Brianna Ripple, Community Response Heroes. While on a school field trip, they helped save the life of a 14-year-old girl who had a health issue while swimming in a hotel pool. Two of the students noticed that she was sinking and told the teachers, while another dove in and had help to get her out of the pool and over to the teachers. Dunham administered CPR and rode with the girl to the hospital. The girl was back home in Ferndale four days later.
- Daniel DeBruin, Police Department Hero. The Sumas police officer was off-duty when he heard a call for an unresponsive person that DeBruin thought he could help. He arrived before medics and when he realized that the family had been eating dinner, he applied the Heimlich maneuver, after which the person was able to breathe again.
- Denise Meyer, Kevin Akers and Matthew Smith, Good Samaritan Heroes. A man was riding his bike at about 7:30 a.m. in Bellingham when he fell over and could not get up again. Akers and Smith stopped their cars in the intersection and Meyer ran across the street to help. They called 9-1-1 and shared the task of CPR to keep the man alive until medics arrived.
- Jocelyn and Lorelei Davis, Youth Heroes. The Davis family lost their Lynden home to a fire in August. When the fire started, Jocelyn, 10, and Lorelei, 8, heard the alarm and woke their mother. While she called 9-11, the girls grabbed their 3-year-old brother and got him and themselves out of the house. Their mom was able to grab their dog and escape unharmed, as well.
- Tyson and Andrew Clarke, Water Rescue Heroes. The Clarke brothers were fishing in Lake Chelan when they heard screams for help from a man who was struggling in the water. Despite the cold and the darkness, Tyson dove down twice to get the man out of the water. Andrew used a raft to bring the man to the dock, where he performed CPR.
