When we look back at 2017, we look back at a year of uncertainty; a year where many of the things that seemed tried-and-true about the state of our society became a little hazy.
One story, however, reminds us of the good that can still be found in people; in our friends and neighbors right here in the Twin Cities:
On last December 5th, at a Burnsville City Council meeting, three individuals were honored with a pretty specific award: Jacob Timmerman, Scott Mogen, and Jamie Lemcke were given the Burnsville Fire Department’s “Life Saving Award.”
They earned this distinctive honor for their actions on October 4th, 2017: The three soon-to-be-heroes were in the area near Fairview Ridges Hospital when they saw a driver careen into a holding pond in front of the hospital. A 9-1-1 call was placed almost immediately when the car was seen going into the pond, and first responders arrived on scene within minutes of the call. What they found was the car completely submerged, gone beneath the water’s surface, and the driver, thankfully, sitting alive on the shore. Timmerman, Mogen, and Lemke had acted without hesitation, diving into the ice cold water to pull the driver from his sinking vehicle and bring him safely back to land.
The driver, Greg Anderson, who runs a local funeral home, was visiting the nearby hospital to discuss his cancer recovery; he had recently had his kidneys removed as a result of the disease.
This type of situation would normally end with a high-pressure, underwater rescue conducted by the first responders – and each moment that passes is critical. The driver went immediately to the hospital where he recovered fully and is doing well.
Fire Chief BJ Jungmann, who was among the first responders to find Anderson on the shore, had this to say about presenting the award, “By pulling this man out of the water before his vehicle was completely submerged, these three individuals truly saved his life that day. It is our honor to present them with the Fire Department’s prestigious Life Saving Award.”
And restore just a little bit of faith in humanity along the way.
