LEWISTON — Heroes come in all sizes.
From a big man who kicked down doors to save people from fire to a bubbly 6-year-old who started a free library on her lawn, the title of “hero” was made official for them and several others Tuesday morning at the 14th annual Real Heroes Breakfast of the American Red Cross in Central and Mid Coast Maine at the Ramada Inn.
Through videos of the seven award recipients screened for about 250 attendees, a full range of lifesaving action received heart-felt recognition.
Organizers said they were honoring “everyday Mainers doing extraordinary things.”
Michel A. Lajoie, retired chief of the Lewiston Fire Department and a former legislator, presented the awards as honorary chairman of the event.
“We all have heroes, and mine are the Red Cross volunteers,” Lajoie said. “I have seen their work at fire scenes and they put their heart and soul into helping victims of tragedy.”
Lajoie and Steve Minich, WMTW-TV news team anchor, introduced the honorees following video profiles of each that gave close-up and personal accounts of their accomplishments.
On a morning almost a year ago, 15-year-old Isaiah Veilleux of Sabattus woke to the loud sound of a smoke alarm. When he turned on his bedroom light, he could see smoke wafting across his ceiling from fire on the exterior of the house.
Acting fast, Isaiah woke his mother and together, they got his four younger siblings out of the house to safety.
Isaiah Veilleux received the Youth Lifesaving Hero award.
The Good Samaritan Hero is Matt Roy of Rumford, who was driving to work on a dark morning in July. As he passed a six-unit Rumford apartment building, something caught his eye at the rear of the structure. He was concerned enough to turn around and go back. At the rear of the apartments he found fire on a back porch.
Roy knocked loudly on a front door, but when no one answered, he kicked in the door. He assisted in clearing six apartments and saving nine people, including two children.
In the words of Janet Ramey, one of the residents, “Matthew saved many lives by alerting us that our building was on fire as we slept.” She got a chance to thank him personally Tuesday morning as she shared an emotional moment in honoring Roy.
This wasn’t Matt Roy’s only brush with heroism. He received a Red Cross Lifesaving Hero award in 2009 when he rescued a snowmobiler who had gone through the ice.
Lisbon Police Department dispatchers Jared Blake and Charlie White, both of Lisbon Falls, received the Real Heroes Public Safety Award.
They stayed on a 911 call for nearly an hour with three teens who had found themselves stranded on a rock in the middle of the Androscoggin River by rising water. The dispatchers coordinated efforts among first responders and several water-control agencies.
The Lifesaving Heroes Award went to a father and young son.
On a late-summer afternoon, Sean Scanlon of Dresden and his 4-year-old son, Kaden, were at an Augusta boat landing when Sean heard people shouting that there was a child in the water. From shore, he saw a bright color in the water. Realizing it was a submerged toddler kept afloat only by his diaper, Sean grabbed the unresponsive toddler and cradled him in his arms.
He performed CPR until the child showed some response, and when sirens indicated that first responders were arriving, young Kaden went up the riverbank to show them the way to the scene.
Members of the Rapid Intervention Teams of Poland, Oxford and Norway Fire Departments received the Workplace Safety Heroes Award. On the night of April 6, 2016, Capt. Christine Yates fell through the floor of a burning Oxford house. She was rescued through a broken window, thanks to quick efforts of the team of firefighters, which included her husband, Norway Fire Chief Dennis Yates.
The Community Service Hero award went to 6-year-old Acadia Cornish of Brunswick. She built a “free library” in a small house that sits on the front lawn of her home in Brunswick, where children can get books.
“I just like helping people,” Acadia told the breakfast attendees. Presenters said Acadia had begun writing a story on the back of her program as she awaited her award.
The crew of LifeFlight Maine in Lewiston was presented the Giving the Gift of Life Heroes award. Inspired by 6-year-old Kinzie Frey of Lewiston, who has battled cancer through half of her life, the LifeFlight team organized a successful blood drive.
