The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Honorees set to be recognized for heroism
Four area residents are among a number of Northeast Ohioans being heralded as heroes April 14 by the Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross named Russell
Township resident Gilbert DiSanto, Willowick Police Department Patrolman Christopher Olup and Sgt. Robert Prochazka, and Painesville resident Dana Walling among seven recipients of the organization’s biennial Greater Cleveland Hero Awards.
Jim McIntyre, communications and marketing manager for the American Red Cross Northeast Ohio Region, said the organization’s Hero Awards are “a long-standing tradition for Red Cross chapters across the country.”
“It’s important for us to recognize and honor people who go above and beyond to help save lives or improve the lives of others because it’s in the spirit of the Red Cross mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering,” he said in a March 13 phone interview.
The 2018 Hero Awards, which address good deeds done in 2016 and 2017, will recognize the following Lake- and Geauga-County honorees:
• Russell Township resident Gilibert DiSanto, who works at Miceli’s Dairy on East 90th Street in Cleveland and, according to a Red Cross news release, “was walking across a pedestrian bridge on the (Miceli’s) campus one Sunday morning in August when he spotted a man lying on the ground just off the plant’s property. He alerted security to call 911, then grabbed an automated external defibrillator and ran to the fallen man. There was no pulse. Mr. DiSanto went to work and a Cleveland police officer who responded and witnessed Mr. DiSanto performing chest compressions said: ‘Actions like Mr. DiSanto’s are heroic, as he took it upon himself to try and save the victim instead of just looking the other way. We need this more from the community.’ An EMS supervisor said Mr. DiSanto’s decisive action helped save the man’s life.”
• Patrolman Christopher Olup and Sgt. Robert Prochazka with the Willowick Police Department “were the first to arrive at the scene of a home fire on Lake Shore Boulevard in April of 2016. Upon their arrival, they were immediately told by a frantic woman outside that her disabled husband was trapped inside,” the Red Cross news release reads. “Officer Olup entered the smoke-filled home while Sgt. Prochazka retrieved a flashlight from his car. The resident was on the floor, unable to move. The smoke was too thick to make visual contact, so officer Olup called out to the man, eventually locating him. As he struggled to drag the man through the smoke, Sgt. Prochazka entered the home and assisted with the rescue. Shortly after reaching safety outside, flames engulfed the entire first floor of the home and were leaping from the windows. Both Olup and Prochazka were treated for smoke inhalation afterwards. The resident was uninjured, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Officer Olup and Sgt. Prochazka.”
Willowick Police Chief Brian Turner said that, for the years this award covers, there was no doubt in his mind whom he wanted to nominate.
“Obviously we’re very proud of the efforts they exhibited in 2016 — entering that house full of smoke and flames and pulling that gentleman out,” Turner said in a March 13 phone interview. “We have a lot of officers and dispatchers here who do great things all the time. But that event was impressive. It was quite an effort. That gentleman would never have been able to remove himself from that house.”
• Painesville resident Dana Walling “was a customer at the Classic BMW dealership in Willoughby Hills last September and noticed another customer who appeared agitated. Police were called, and they discovered there was a warrant for the customer’s arrest. As the two officers who responded began to escort the man from the dealership, he broke away, pulled a gun, and began to fire, wounding both officers,” The Red Cross news release states. “One of the officers returned fire, and as the bullets flew, one whizzed by Dana, crashing through the windshield of a car he was standing next to. Instead of ducking for cover, Dana ran to help. One of the wounded officers was struggling on the ground with the suspect, and Dana helped subdue the gunman by handcuffing him. Dana then stayed with the officer, ensuring the suspect was restrained, until EMS and backup arrived. Police credit Dana for his bravery, but he said he just did what anyone should do.”
In a March 13 phone interview, Walling, who works as a chemical operator at Lubrizol’s Painesville Township plant, said he was honored and surprised after learning Plant Manager Craig Hupp nominated him for the honor.
“Oh, it’s definitely a surprise. It came as a big surprise to me,” Walling said. “I’m very appreciative of the whole thing. But I don’t think I’m a hero. I was just in the right place at the right time to be able to help the police. They’re the real heroes.”
Walling said that he’s “really not one of those guys that’s in the limelight” and that he’s just taking the recognition “in stride.”
“I’m just trying to stay humble,” he said.
The Red Cross reports the three other Hero Award recipients to be recognized March 14 during a ceremony at the Huntington Convention Center Cleveland are:
• Berea resident Jan Durkalski, who performed CPR on her husband, John last January after he collapsed because of cardiac arrest while running in one of the area’s metroparks. Jan reportedly learned CPR just the day before the incident.
• MetroHealth simulation training specialist Jared Lee, who last October was on his way home from work rendered aid to a woman and her young son who had just been involved in a motor-vehicle crash. Another crash happened in the opposite direction as he was working on the mother’s injuries, the driver in that wreck suffering severe injuries. Using the drawstring from his scrubs, Lee fashioned a tourniquet to treat the seriously injured driver, using a technique he’d just learned.
• Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center nurse Janine Smalley, who volunteered to help veterans affected by last year’s hurricanes in Puerto Rico, where she joined personnel from three other VA facilities and employed the FEMA disaster training she received. The group “traveled daily from shelter to shelter, often over barely passable roads, to administer basic medical treatment and resupply medications for nearly 5,000 veterans during her 14-day deployment.”
“The Red Cross honors these heroes for showing extraordinary courage, compassion and humanity by saving or improving the lives of others,” Mike Parks, regional CEO and executive director of the Greater Cleveland Chapter is quoted as saying in the organization’s Feb. 19 news release. “The values recognized in these heroes mirror those that motivate and inspire the work of the Red Cross.”
According to the news release, the American Red Cross Greater Cleveland Chapter at its ceremony March 14 also will recognize the Cleveland Indians with its Community Leader Award in honor of the team’s “outstanding leadership and commitment to supporting our community.”