Over the years, Verizon Wireless customers have been recognized as winners of The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) annual VITA Wireless Samaritan Awards. The CTIA panel of judges awarded VITA, Latin for "Life", awards to these individuals who demonstrated the courage and instinct to think of their wireless phones as a life-saving device during demanding emergency situations.
Since 1993, the VITA Wireless Samaritan Awards have recognized the outstanding public service of individuals who use their wireless phones to save lives, stop crimes and quickly request help in emergencies. A select panel of individuals from law enforcement and emergency response services judged nominees from across the country.
"So many of us carry our wireless phones with us every day, everywhere we go and these individuals serve as reminder for us to also think of our wireless phones as a potential safety tool in our everyday lives," said Denny Strigl, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless. "We are proud of our customers and employees and are pleased the wireless industry will honor them with the VITA Award."
One winter morning, Mark Sorey and John Eberle were flying 900 feet over the Hudson River when the engine of their plane died. In order to avoid hitting buildings and pedestrians, the two men decided to conduct an emergency landing into the middle of the river. Upon hitting the water, Sorey and Eberle immediately scrambled to get out of the plane as quickly as possible, as the cold water put them at risk of developing hypothermia. Luckily, Sorey had his wireless readily accessible, and used it to call 9-1-1 from the wing of their sinking plane. After the plane sank, both men started swimming toward the bank of the river. Luckily, rescue helicopters appeared and successfully removed the men from the river.
Army Corporal Ricardo Rojas is serving in Iraq with the Army National Guard. His wife, Janet, was pregnant when Rojas left to go overseas. On September 21, the soldier learned that his baby was on its way. Rojas borrowed a satellite phone and called his mother, Sara Velez on her wireless phone. Sara was in the delivery suite with Janet and served as Rojas’ on-the-scene reporter, letting Rojas speak with his wife and holding the phone up to capture the sound of his newborn daughter's first healthy cry.
Sarah Harmon, age 10, was on her way to the Air Force Academy with three classmates and her teacher, Rodney Booth, when Booth passed out, sending the car crashing into a guardrail. Sarah took the steering wheel and guided the car to a rest area where Booth regained consciousness enough to help stop the car. Sarah then grabbed a wireless phone from Booth's pocket and called 911. Doctors were unable to determine what caused Booth to collapse, but after undergoing tests he was released.
While Steve and Kathy Cerqua, and Kathy's mother, Sally Rosenwinkel, were returning from a day trip to the Salt River Canyon in northeastern Arizona they took a shortcut on a remote road where their vehicle got stuck in the mud. The Cerquas and Rosenwinkel made signal fires, drank water out of puddles and shared one box of breath mints for three days. Knowing their only chance for rescue was to call 911, Steve left the group to climb a nearby mountain peak to get a signal on his wireless phone. He succeeded and then used a mirror to signal the rescue helicopter pilot and they were saved.
When Lana Stuart and her boyfriend, Lee, arrived at Hamoa beach they immediately noticed a strong rip tide that was roaring through the ocean. At the same time there were two surfers hauling their surfboards down to shore despite posted warning signs; the two entered the water. One surfer quickly returned to shore, but the other got caught in the rip tide and was carried out to sea. It wasn't long after that he could be seen waving his hands for help. Thanks to Lana and her brand new wireless phone, the surfer was rescued by helicopter.
Just after 70-year-old Michigan customer George Wallace purchased his wireless phone at a nearby RadioShack, he took it with him when he was hunting in Oxford, MI. While in the woods he heard a man calling for help. The man, also hunting, had fallen from a 30-foot-tall tree; his back was broken in two places. Unable to walk, he'd been in the woods for 30 hours with no food or water. Thanks to the help summoned by Wallace's latest purchase, the man was pulled out safely and has recovered.
Greg Geren, a local baseball coach at Bradley Central High School, was using a Bobcat to help build new facilities at the school's baseball field. When he moved to get down, his right foot became pinned by the bucket of the machine. Greg tried to remove his foot, but knew he could not do it alone, so he reached into his back pocket and called one of the other coaches for help. Since the machine was equipped with a safety lock, someone had to climb in it and buckle the seat belt to release the lock and then move it to set him free.
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