A pair of community members were recognized by the Fire District 43 Board of Commissioners last Thursday night.
Justin Bohanick, a 13 year old Maple Valley resident, was honored for his quick thinking under pressure while Jerry Woods was recognized for his work during the winter with the Maple Valley Fire Department’s holiday engine.
Bohanick’s mother suffered an aneurysm and when he found her not breathing, he called 911.
“I understand Justin did a really good thing,” said interim Fire Chief Brad Doerflinger. “Because of your quick and proper action you may have saved your mother’s life.”
Dispatchers walked Bohanick through CPR and he helped her breathe while waiting for emergency personnel to respond.
Since the incident, she has had two surgeries and was recently released from a rehabilitation center, and “she’s walking, she’s talking,” Bohanick said.
Like Bohanick, Woods stepped up to the plate to help out when he saw a need when the holiday engine program was in danger of going away.
“We skipped a year last year (2008) because of financial issues last year,” Lt. John Madden told the Reporter in December. “But Jerry Woods asked me this year and I put it together.”
During the holidays, the holiday engine visited a number of Maple Valley neighborhoods and with the help of the Tahoma High cheerleaders, dozens of Girl Scout troops as well as a Boy Scout troop, more than 2,400 pounds of food and $1,575 in monetary donations were collected for the Maple Valley Food Bank.
In addition, 17 firefighters came in during their off-duty time to drive the fire engine.
Woods helped coordinate the effort to get the holiday engine rolling and for that effort he was recognized by the board as it was officially re-named the Jerry Woods Holiday Engine.
“They asked me to get the community behind the holiday fire truck,” Woods said.
It was an emotional moment for Doerflinger and Woods as the name change was made official with both men fighting back tears during the meeting.
“We recognize now what we were missing from our Holiday Fire Engine and that was our heart,” Doerflinger said. “That was Jerry Woods. We believe that your selfless dedication in heading the Holiday Engine in 2009 has made you a hero in our community. We are honored to rename our Holiday Engine.”
