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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR FIREFIGHTERS ALEX MCGOVERN, SR., AND HIS SON ALEX MCGOVERN, JR., WITH THE BRIGHTSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND TO COMMEND THEIR HEROISM AND COURAGEOUS RESCUE OF A MOTHER AND HER THREE CHILDREN.
Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is grateful for the first responders in the Palmetto State who vigilantly train and prepare to provide safety to citizens in peril; and
Whereas, on Monday, March 21, 2016, veteran firefighters Alex McGovern, Sr., and Alex McGovern, Jr., were returning home from their monthly training drill at the Brightsville Fire Department around nine o'clock that evening when they noticed a damaged guard rail on Old Wire Road in Bennettsville; and
Whereas, recalling that it had not been damaged when they passed it earlier, they turned around to investigate. Only upon closer scrutiny with flashlights could they see an overturned car submerged in the waist-high creek and hear voices inside the vehicle; and
Whereas, about an hour earlier, the car had crashed through the guard rail and landed upside down in a cold, flowing creek, trapping a mother and her three young children inside the vehicle; and
Whereas, the McGoverns immediately called for help and rushed to rescue the car's occupants, the mother and her children, five years, three years, and eighteen months old, all of whom had been trapped and were surviving in a small air pocket above the creek level and approaching hypothermia; and
Whereas, others from the Brightsville Fire Department training responded quickly to the call for help and were followed by members of the Wallace Fire and Rescue, sheriff's deputies, and Marlboro County rescue personnel; and.
Whereas, after opening a door of the submerged vehicle, firefighters were able to rescue the children one at a time and formed a human chain in the cold, waist-high water to pass them to safety on the bank; and
Whereas, the rescuers settled the children in the warmth of a fireman's car to allay hypothermia until EMS could arrive and were able to assure the mother that her children were safe while they rescued her; and
Whereas, although the mother and the two older children were taken to Scotland Memorial Hospital for treatment and the baby was air lifted to McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence because of concern about water in his lungs and his low core temperature, all four are now doing well; and
Whereas, because of the outstanding training and quick actions of the McGoverns, a tragedy was averted and precious lives were saved; and
Whereas, the House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina is profoundly grateful for the alert thinking and ready response of Alex McGovern, Sr., and Alex McGovern, Jr., that saved the lives of four citizens in Marlboro County. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor firefighters Alex McGovern, Sr., and his son Alex McGovern, Jr., with the Brightsville Fire Department and commend their heroism and courageous rescue of a mother and her three children.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Alex McGovern, Sr., and Alex McGovern, Jr.
This web page was last updated on April 26, 2016 at 4:39 PM