This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A pair of amazing rescues — one from beneath a burning car, the other from an icy river — were honored Monday by the Utah Senate, with rescuers praised as selfless heroes whose acts saved lives.
Senators honored eight people who helped lift a car off Brandon Wright, a motorcyclist who was struck by a car and trapped underneath the vehicle while his bike burst into flames.
And they presented a citation to 16 people who plunged into the icy Logan River to turn over a vehicle that had slid off the road and flipped into the river trapping three children inside. The rescuers then resuscitated two children who had stopped breathing.
"I've never seen something more heroic than what you two groups did," said Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, who works with the Utah County Search and Rescue team. "You represent the best of Utah."
An emotional Roger Andersen, the father of two of the children trapped in the car in the Logan River, said that courage and sacrifice are "alive and well" in Utah.
"There are people who will quickly forget themselves, quickly forget their schedules and the things that are important in their lives and come to the rescue of people in true need," Andersen said. "We can't put into words the gratitude we have for these great people."