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NEWS | Feb. 16, 2010

West Virginia Guardsmen use ingenuity to rescue stranded mother, baby

By Staff Sgt. Sherree Grebenstein West Virginia National Guard

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.V., - Necessity has often been called the mother of invention.

Just ask two West Virginia National Guard Soldiers who found themselves attempting to rescue a mother and her four week-old premature baby stranded at home in Morgan County.

The back-to-back blizzards socked the Eastern Panhandle of the state with more than three feet of snow in some areas.

To reach the pair in the early morning hours of Feb. 10, Staff Sgt. Harry F. Accor III and Spc. Derek C. Folk, two medics with the 201st Field Artillery Battalion based in Fairmont, W.Va., fashioned two pairs of snowshoes from pine tree branches and clothes lines.

What makes the feat perhaps even more amazing is that Spc. Folk Performed the rescue with three bones broken in his right hand.

During a rescue mission earlier in the week, the Soldier sustained the injury while helping to evacuate a bi-lateral amputee with diabetes from his home in Berkeley Springs.

Maj. Chris Nasser, assigned from the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing as a military liaison officer at the Morgan County emergency services complex, said both Soldiers were innovative in their efforts to rescue the trapped mother and baby.

They made their own handmade snowshoes to evacuate them, Maj. Nasser said. They were really prepared for whatever they faced.

A concerned neighbor alerted officials to help the mother and baby who reportedly were living in a home in the Highland Ridge area which had been without power for two days, Accor said.

Because the snow was so deep - up to eight- foot snow drifts in some places - the Soldiers were forced to hike up a ridge to the home for about three miles.

And the only way they could maneuver though the snow without sinking was on the snowshoes.

Getting the mother and baby back down the ridge to a waiting humvee was just as tricky.

The child was already wrapped, said Accor.

Both men said they never stopped to learn the woman's name or even the sex of the baby as they were on a mission.

We just wanted to get them out of there to safety, Accor said, noting after he got hold of the baby, he wrapped it in more blankets and tucked it in his rucksack. After the baby was nestled in the bag, he placed heated hand warmers around the blankets to keep it warm.

Meanwhile the woman was placed on a 6 foot by 3 foot sked, known as an emergency medical extraction device, and Folk proceeded to drag it.

Looking back, Folk said he acted as a sled dog by putting the sked's rope around his waist and pulling it to the waiting humvee down the ridge.

The whole time I was walking through the snow I was happy that the snowshoes didn't break, Accor said.

As the two Soldiers made their way back down the ridge, Spc. Folk would look in on the baby who was snuggled in the rucksack on Accor's back.

I just wanted to make sure the baby was still doing okay, Accor said.

Once back at the humvee, the Soldiers transported the mother and baby to a nearby family home.

They made arrangements to go to another state to be with family members, Accor said.

Both Soldiers said the snowshoes, which proved to be lifesavers, were created using a team effort from fellow Guardsmen in their unit.

Sgt. 1st Class David Hoffman, a fellow member of the 201st Field Artillery Battalion who lives in Falling Waters, praised the Soldiers.

They did a really great job, said Hoffman.

When asked how they felt about their rescue mission, both Soldiers said they were just doing what they are trained to do.

It's our job, Accor said. That's what we are here for.

And what about the now famous snowshoes?

Both pairs are expected to be put on display in the battalion's headquarters ... after the two Soldiers are finished using them.

 

 

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