Statewide Iowa (RI) – Four Iowans are being honored for their heroic efforts to save others from burning homes and icy waters.
The Governor’s Lifesaving Awards were established in 1977 and this year’s ceremony was hosted by Governor Kim Reynolds.
Kyle Peterson of Spirit Lake received the Lifesaving with Valor Award for his actions early this year, on January 5th. He saw an accident on East Okoboji Lake, left his seat in a restaurant along the shore and ran half a mile across ice on the lake to rescue a couple who’d been tossed from their UTV into open water.
Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Bayens says Peterson could hear the woman’s screams as he ran.
Kyle Peterson then led the couple back across that half mile of frozen lake to safety and a couple of minutes later first responders arrived.
A man from Clinton was honored for saving a friend during an ice fishing trip last February. Michael Edwards’ friend was cutting a new fishing hole in a Jackson County lake when the ice buckled and the man slid in the water.
The state’s public safety commissioner says Michael sprawled on the ice and grabbed the end of the ice auger his friend had been using.
A second man arrived with a fishing sled and helped pull the man out of the water.
John Wonio is another Lifesaving with Valor Award recipient. John noticed his neighbor’s home was on fire on December 7th of last year, called 911 and helped a Des Moines policeman break down the home’s front door.
Bayens says one of the occupants heard John’s voice and followed it out of the house, but John and the policeman saw a woman sitting in a chair.
The woman was hospitalized for over two weeks for treatment of a collapsed lung, carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation and she was discharged just before last Christmas.
Meagan Murray, a letter carrier from New Hampton, received the Governor’s Lifesaving Award. Bayens says she rescued an 85-year-old woman from a burning home in New Hampton on September 30th of last year.
Bayens says the four Iowans honored are remarkable people who provided aid when it was needed most.
KIWA Staff Photo
