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| AAA Honors Eight Safety Patrollers Who Saved Fellow Students' Lives |
| By Business Wire |
| Published: 05/31/2004 |
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AAA awarded its highest national safety honor - "The Lifesaving Medal Award" - to eight school safety patrollers whose heroic, split-second decisions saved their school mates from life-threatening danger. This marks AAA's 55th consecutive year honoring children across the United States who save lives as part of AAA's signature pedestrian safety program. The national pedestrian death rate per 100,000 for children aged 5-14 has fallen by 93 percent since 1935, the first year records were kept. AAA safety experts credit the 84-year-old School Safety Patrol Program with making a strong contribution to this significant improvement. Two of the honorees, Andrew Deem, age 11, and John Hickey, age 10, from Bristow Run Elementary in Bristow, Va., are shining examples of safety patrollers' courage and dedication. On the afternoon of October 14, 2003, Andrew saw a two-year-old boy and his mother pushing a stroller with the boy's younger brother inside. When the boy suddenly ran from his mother into the busy street, Andrew grabbed the toddler while stopping the mother from running out into the street after her child. John, meanwhile, was at his patrol station and witnessed the event with Andrew. When the mother ran after her toddler, the stroller that she left behind with the younger brother began rolling into the street. John ran after the stroller, stopping it just as an SUV grazed his foot. AAA started the national school safety patrol in 1920. Today, the AAA School Safety Patrol is an organization of 500,000 boys and girls nationwide in 50,000 schools. Many famous Americans have been safety patrollers, including former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Senator John Warner of Virginia, three current members of the U.S. Supreme Court, 21 astronauts and six Olympic gold medalists. The program has a long history of helping young people become leaders by teaching discipline, responsibility, and concern for others. |
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