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This was in the Harris County Star, "The Voice of Harris County Law Enforcement." It's at <http://www.hcdo.com/html/county_news_july01.html>
<b>County News:
Officer lauded for risking life</b>
A Pasadena police officer credited with helping to save a teen-ager by pulling her from an overturned, burning car last summer was recognized for his heroism and awarded the Carnegie Medal.
Patrolman Robert Paul Myers, a 24-year veteran of the police department, was one of 22 officers in the United States and Canada recognized as having risked their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or trying to save the lives of others. Four of those recognized died while performing their heroic acts.
Each of the 22 recipients or their survivors receives $3,500.
"I'm humbled by it. I'm grateful for it," said Myers, 45. "Looking at the list of the 22 people that did receive the award, four of them did die trying to save someone else's life. Thank God that I wasn't one of those that didn't make it. Thank God that I was able to save Mandy."
Myers was the first officer to arrive at the scene of a one-car accident in the 9200 block of Red Bluff on the afternoon of Aug. 7. A 1995 Eagle Talon was upside down and on fire.
The driver, 16-year-old Jean Brill of Shoreacres, had been thrown from the car.
Several onlookers told Myers another person was in the car.
Unable to open the passenger door, Myers asked bystanders to help him. As they lifted the back of the car, he crawled underneath and tried to remove 16-year-old Amanda Cook. But she was still strapped in by her seat belt.
As flames from the front of the car began flickering through the dashboard, Myers crawled out and got a pocketknife from one of the men lifting the car. He again crawled under the vehicle, cut the seat belt and removed Cook.
The heat was so intense that his glasses partially melted. Less than a minute later, the car was totally engulfed.
Cook, fully recovered, said she misses her good friend, Brill, who died later that day.
"I am so grateful for him," Cook, 17, said of Myers. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. He's a really, really nice guy. I've met him a couple of times."
Cook said she doesn't remember the accident because she suffered a brain injury and a fractured leg. She was hospitalized for about a month.
Myers, who suffered a minor cut to his right thumb while cutting the seat belt, said that until that accident, he never carried a pocketknife, but "I do now at all times."
<b>County News:
Officer lauded for risking life</b>
A Pasadena police officer credited with helping to save a teen-ager by pulling her from an overturned, burning car last summer was recognized for his heroism and awarded the Carnegie Medal.
Patrolman Robert Paul Myers, a 24-year veteran of the police department, was one of 22 officers in the United States and Canada recognized as having risked their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or trying to save the lives of others. Four of those recognized died while performing their heroic acts.
Each of the 22 recipients or their survivors receives $3,500.
"I'm humbled by it. I'm grateful for it," said Myers, 45. "Looking at the list of the 22 people that did receive the award, four of them did die trying to save someone else's life. Thank God that I wasn't one of those that didn't make it. Thank God that I was able to save Mandy."
Myers was the first officer to arrive at the scene of a one-car accident in the 9200 block of Red Bluff on the afternoon of Aug. 7. A 1995 Eagle Talon was upside down and on fire.
The driver, 16-year-old Jean Brill of Shoreacres, had been thrown from the car.
Several onlookers told Myers another person was in the car.
Unable to open the passenger door, Myers asked bystanders to help him. As they lifted the back of the car, he crawled underneath and tried to remove 16-year-old Amanda Cook. But she was still strapped in by her seat belt.
As flames from the front of the car began flickering through the dashboard, Myers crawled out and got a pocketknife from one of the men lifting the car. He again crawled under the vehicle, cut the seat belt and removed Cook.
The heat was so intense that his glasses partially melted. Less than a minute later, the car was totally engulfed.
Cook, fully recovered, said she misses her good friend, Brill, who died later that day.
"I am so grateful for him," Cook, 17, said of Myers. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. He's a really, really nice guy. I've met him a couple of times."
Cook said she doesn't remember the accident because she suffered a brain injury and a fractured leg. She was hospitalized for about a month.
Myers, who suffered a minor cut to his right thumb while cutting the seat belt, said that until that accident, he never carried a pocketknife, but "I do now at all times."
and, for the knife content, I carry it in a belt pouch, so people think I have a knife in there!