By Patricia Villers
Register Staff
You never know when you’ll meet a hero.
What starts out as a relatively routine work day can turn into a day that leaves a reporter a bit frazzled, yes, but also in awe of an extraordinary act by an ordinary person.
Yesterday was just that day for me. I showed up at a fire scene in Derby Thursday afternoon not knowing it was as big a blaze as it was. Firefighters from Derby and Shelton were everywhere; two ladder trucks, Shelton’s Echo Hose and Derby’s Paugies, as well as a rather large crowd of onlookers and local media.
After learning that everyone in the six-family house on Olivia Street escaped unharmed, I was pointed toward an Ansonia man who had saved the life of Theresa Tiano, an elderly tenant .
Chris Esteves, 24, happened upon the fire scene on his way to an appointment. When he heard that an elderly woman was still inside her third-floor apartment he ran inside, up the stairs and knocked on her door. When she didn’t respond, he opened the door and got her. She told him she needed to grab her cane and they left the apartment.
He brought her downstairs and out the door, only hesitating to put a mat over their heads to protect them from falling debris.
What makes Esteves’ feat even more remarkable is the fact that in 2009 he assisted three Ansonia police officers in rescuing an elderly woman from a house fire.
Wow.
Esteves, in his own quiet, soft-spoken way, demonstrates that he indeed wants to help other people.
And I for one am glad that I met him.
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1 comment:
A Day For Anonymous Heroes.
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No one throws a ticker tape parade for the husband or boyfriend .....the wife or girlfriend....who, for better and for worse,stayed together,faithfully until death did them part, despite many tragic and unbelievable differences.
No one throws a proffesional and unique fireworks display for the one fireman who risked his life to save a womans life by dragging her out of a burning building ....injuring himself by doing so.
No one sets even one day a year apart to honor these ordinary, everyday American heroes. Why? Why isn't there only one day set apart , perhaps called "Ordinary, Anonymous and not,Amer
ican Heroes Day"?
For those who do simple, quiet, unnoticed acts of kindness. Those who quietly slip a dollar or two into the hands of a needy one on the street who really needs and wants to eat, but dosen't have a cent.
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