Darlene Radosavlyev admits that her motivation for joining the Red Cross in 1992 was not that profound or heroic. “I was approached by a friend who worked at the Red Cross. He told me that he thought I would be good at teaching CPR and that I would also be able to wear jeans everyday to work.”

Starting a new career seemed like such a small decision to Darlene, a simple decision. There was no way that she could have known the impact she would have on her community and that 25 people would be alive today because of her decision to join the Red Cross.
Imagine if you will...

You’re playing your usual weekend golf game with friends. As you approach the ninth hole, without warning, one of your party suddenly crumples to the ground. You scream out his name, but there’s no response. His face turns pale and bluish, and you can’t see his chest rise and fall to breathe. Would you know how to respond?

Every year, this type of scenario is played out more than 600 times a day in the United States alone. In her role as a CPR Instructor Trainer and as a CPR Instructor herself, Darlene knows that without rapid intervention, the prognosis is slim, and that is why she is passionate about teaching people to save lives through CPR and AED training.

“I fell in love with my job almost instantly. I get to meet new people every day and teach them the skills they need to use in a very important moment in their life.”

Over the years, Darlene has met a lot of people in Central Illinois. She has trained 550 new instructors, and between herself and her instructors, she has taught 125,000 people how to save a life.

The numbers are quite impressive, but the results are even more so. At least 25 lives have been saved in our community because someone trained by Darlene or one of her instructors knew what to do.

When faced with these amazing facts, Darlene’s humility shines through.

“I guess I don’t feel like I am a hero. No one ever asks Van Gogh who taught him how to paint or asks Bill Gates who his first computer teacher was. The people who used their training to save a life or give up their time to be trained... they are the real heroes. I am just thankful that I get to empower people to know what to do. That knowledge is what gives them the confidence to react in an emergency. And that is what saves lives.”

More years ago than he would like to say, Dan Murphy had his first experience with Red Cross training. As a teen, he worked as a Red Cross certified lifeguard in the summer, and he admits that his key motivators were not so heroic... a tan and a good view of the girls are the priorities of most teenage boys.

Despite his experience with the Red Cross, it wasn’t until May 24, 2009 that Dan truly realized the importance of lifesaving training, and how he would, in a split second, use it to save the life of a friend.

“It all happened so fast,” recalls Murphy.

That evening, Dan joined friends for a time of laughter and celebration at an engagement party. “It seemed like a perfect night.”
After enjoying the beautiful weather, Dan decided to go inside. As he walked into the kitchen, Dan was confronted by the frantic pleas of another party guest, “Do you know the Heimlich?” 

Dan had received training at a conference for Caterpillar executives, so he quickly responded, “Yes”. She led him to the bathroom where he saw Tim Elder choking. Dan asked his old friend, “Do you need help?”, to which Tim nodded yes. Dan positioned himself behind Tim and performed chest thrusts until the food was dislodged. “I didn’t have to think about it. The Red Cross skills came so naturally.” After Tim was able to breathe and talk normally again, they both returned to the party.

As the story filtered through his friends and co-workers, Dan didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. It wasn’t until months later that the true gravity of the situation hit him.

“I started to replay the events over in my mind, and I realized that if I hadn’t known how to respond, or if it had taken longer for them to find help, Tim could have been in real trouble.”

Now, over a year later, the “what ifs” have subsided, and Dan is a fervent supporter for Red Cross lifesaving training. Dan was trained through Caterpillar, and he feels that other companies should follow suit. “Companies have an obligation to their people and their community. Employees need to be trained so that they can help whenever they are needed.”

When Stu Horton opened his eyes on Saturday, January 22, it looked like a normal day. He was scheduled to drive the Tremont Girls Basketball team to Downs where they would be playing for fifth place in the McLean County Tournament. Stu routinely checked the weather report, and was thankful that road conditions would be good since no snow was in the forecast. When the bus departed at 7:45a.m., no one could have predicted what the next few hours would bring.

For 35 years, Stu has been a bus driver for Tremont District 702. Over the years, he earned the nickname, “Safety Stu”, because of his passion for safety on his bus. To his passengers, Stu was a mentor and a friend, but on that fateful morning, he would also become a hero.

While traveling eastbound on I-74, Stu’s bus was hit head on by another vehicle. Despite the panic all around him, Stu kept the bus from going over an embankment that would have surely caused it to tip over. Instead, he was able to guide it to a safe stop in a ditch. “I know that if I tried to maneuver that bus again in the same way that there is no way I could have done it. It wasn’t ‘Stu’ that stopped that bus, I believe God’s angels were present that day,” Stu recalls.

Perhaps it was pure luck, or perhaps it was divine intervention, but nonetheless, in the midst of tragedy, Stu’s actions and quick thinking saved 15 young lives that day. But Stu’s heroic story doesn’t end there...

After the bus had stopped, Stu, with intense pain in his stomach and a severely broken hand, immediately tended to the coach and the girls on the bus. Stu refused medical attention four times until he was sure that every girl and faculty member had been treated.

In the face of a terrible situation, Stu reacted in a way that most of us hope we would... with calm, patience, bravery and selflessness.
Stu’s actions are best phrased by a close friend, Jeff Muehlich.

“On that Saturday, January 22, 2011, Stu Horton went above and beyond the call of duty. That is why Stu is a hero, according to 15 girls and a community of 2,000.”

It was pure happenstance that Joaquin Comacho was working at the Prospect McDonald’s on December 1, 2010. If he had been at another location that morning, then that day may have turned out very differently for Sandra Fitzpatrick and her family.

Joaquin is described as a humble, hardworking man, someone who is always ready to do whatever is needed. With great care and diligence, Joaquin manages all the maintenance issues at the 11 area McDonald’s locations in Peoria and Bartonville. His co-workers know that Joaquin will go the extra mile to help them whenever he can. On the morning of December 1, Joaquin, again, went above and beyond his duties, but this time lives were saved.

It was a cold winter day, yet Joaquin was working on the roof of the McDonald’s on Prospect. While on the roof, Joaquin began to hear the frantic sound of dogs barking. When he looked up, he saw smoke and flames pouring out of a brick ranch across the ally. Within a matter of minutes, he was off the roof and pounding on the door to see if anyone was home. Adrenaline surging, Joaquin called 911 to alert them to the fire as he impatiently waited for someone to respond.

The home owner, Sandra Fitzpatrick, was sorting through items in the front bedroom of her home. She had no idea that the back of her house was engulfed in flames. The smell of smoke had not yet reached the front of the home, nor did the sound of a pounding fist on her door.

When Joaquin’s knocks went unanswered, he entered the home to see if he could help. He quickly found Sandra and alerted her to the situation. Sandra refused to leave without her beloved pets, so, despite the thickening smoke, Joaquin helped her rescue her pets from the blaze.

Sandra can’t help but get emotional when she thinks back to that moment, “If he hadn’t come to the door... He saved my life.”

After Sandra and her pets were safe, Joaquin quietly departed and returned to work to finish his shift. It wasn’t until after he had gone home for the day that his co-workers found out the heroic role that Joaquin had played that morning.

Sandra later presented Joaquin with a picture she painted in his honor, which Joaquin and his family proudly display in their home. Joaquin will always cherish her gift and their emotional reunion, and Sandra says she will never really know how to truly express her thanks to Joaquin for his bravery in helping a woman he didn’t even know.

On June 5, 2010, a tornado may have shattered many houses and businesses in Elmwood, but it did not destroy the spirit of the 2,000 residents who call it home. In the wake of the storm, the town united with a common mission... to rebuild their beloved town, and young Andrew Desplinter was no different than his friends and neighbors. He shared their vision and purpose... to save Elmwood.

After the tornado ripped through Elmwood only a block away from the DeSplinter home, Andrew told his mother that he wanted to “save Elmwood, too”. Kim DeSplinter was touched by the caring heart of her son, but wasn’t sure what Andrew could really do to help.

Just give Andrew a little time to think...

A few days later, Andrew approached his parents with an idea. He knew what he could do... set up a lemonade stand to raise money. He set quite a lofty goal for such a young entrepreneur, $100 to donate to the Elmwood Recovery Fund. So, the DeSplinter family, with Andrew at the helm, began the task of setting up a lemonade business in their front yard.

As Andrew’s first customer walked to his stand, he could barely contain his excitement. The gentleman asked Andrew for a cup of lemonade, and after he gave him his glass, the man gave Andrew $100. At that point, Andrew knew he was doing the right thing. Despite reaching his goal after one customer, Andrew continued to sell, and by his third day in the lemonade business, he had raised $1,000.

Still, he wanted to do more.

Andrew and his friends sold lemonade at the Sunday night community band concerts, and by the end of the summer, Andrew had raised $1,500. Andrew and his mom took the donations to the Farmer’s State Bank and placed them in the recovery fund.

Andrew enjoyed the local celebrity that came along with raising so much money through a lemonade stand... media interviews, becoming a fireman for a day and having people in town ask him, “Got any lemonade?”

Recognition is not why Andrew wanted to sell lemonade and raise money. Elmwood is the only home that Andrew has ever known, and he wanted to make a difference in any way that he could. And that is what makes him a hero.

A very special thank you to Tim Sotter for the videos of our heros and to Trent Foltz for capturing the images of our heroes.