Quick action by two Air Force members and several civilians saved the lives of a mother and her young son after their vehicle crashed into a retention pond in Navarre on Nov. 3.
- Senior Airman Kyle Hiday of the 1st Special Operations Wing and 1st Lt. Christian Munoz of the 492nd Special Operations Wing joined civilians in the nighttime rescue after the car veered off the road, crashed through a fence and flipped into the water.
“I’ve been doing this job for a long time, and I’ve been called to incidents where people were submerged in lakes, canals, and rivers,” said Jason Martino, Holley-Navarre Fire Department battalion chief. “Rarely, if ever, do you rescue a viable victim who survives without any deficits.”
Munoz responded first after hearing the crash from his apartment. He scaled a fence and jumped about 10 feet into the dark water. While a civilian pulled the mother from the wreckage, Munoz and another bystander extracted the unconscious boy and performed CPR until he began breathing.
- “I was in the right place, at the right time, surrounded by the right people to help that night,” Munoz said. “A group of people who didn’t know each other at all worked together in a moment to help someone who needed it.”
Hiday and his wife Madison also heard the crash and rushed to help. After climbing over the fence and down a 15-foot embankment, they joined the rescue effort. Madison, who is CPR-certified, performed life-saving measures on the unconscious mother until she regained consciousness.
“No one ever leaves the house thinking that it could be their last time driving,” Hiday said. “This experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. It reminded me how important it is to be prepared.”
The Holley-Navarre Fire Department honored the rescuers during a ceremony at Fire Station 45 on Nov. 25.
Col. Patrick Dierig, commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing, praised the actions as exemplifying “the Air Commando mindset–dedication, professionalism, and selflessness both on and off duty.”
Col. Patrick Wnetrzak, commander of the 492nd SOW, called Munoz “the living embodiment of the 492nd SOW Carpetbagger legacy—a legacy of fearless determination to execute the mission, no matter the cost.”
