Community Corner
Red Cross Honors Portsmouth Heroes
Portsmouth Firefighter Russ Osgood, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Planet Fitness were among those recognized Thursday morning.
The American Red Cross honored a Portsmouth firefighter, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Planet Fitness during the 2012 Heroes Breakfast Thursday morning at the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel.
was honored with a Good Samaritan award for the care he showed for fellow firefighter Sarah Fox and her family before and after she lost her courageous battle with cancer in December.
Caroline Worster of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard received the Blood Services Award for conducting monthly blood drives where hundreds of Shipyard employees donate blood to save lives.
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Elizabeth Cunningham, the regional manager of accepted the Workplace Hero Award on behalf of the health club chain after one of the Portsmouth Planet Fitness employees used an AED device to save the life a member after he collapsed on a tread mill and went into cardiac arrest.
Gov. John Lynch was also presented an award for shepherding New Hampshire through several natural disasters that included three 100-year floods, an ice storm and a tornado during his time in office.
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Red Cross Board Chair Jeff Dudley said his organization was so impressed by they way Lynch reached out to New Hampshire citizens who were directly affected by these disasters that he "should run for President in 2016."
But Osgood received the greatest round of applause after a five-minute video was shown that told the story of how he came to the aid of Fox and her family after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2007. Osgood rallied his fellow firefighters and others to raise thousands of dollars to help Fox's family as she battled the disease that took her life on Dec. 9, 2011.
Osgood, who joined the Portsmouth Fire Department with Fox as paramedics, said in the video, "why wouldn't you want to help someone like that?"
Osgood created pink ribbons that read "Support Portsmouth Bravest" with Fox's number 173 printed on them and sold them for $5 each, a fundraiser that generated more than $50,000. He also helped create events like Sarah's Ride, a motorcycle rally, charity softball games between the Portsmouth Fire Department and Police Department, and even built a playground and jungle gym for Fox's children so she could watch them play from outside of the bedroom of her Canterbury home.
"You don't have to raise $1 million to help somebody and you don't have to raise $50,000. All you have to do is give $5," Osgood said in the video.
Several members of the Portsmouth Fire Department, including Chief Chris LeClaire, and Osgood's family were onhand to seem him receive his American Red Cross Heroes award and many people in the audience fought back tears after watching Osgood's story.
Caroline Worster of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was recognized for continuing the tradition of monthly blood drives that began during World War II. According to Red Cross officials, the Shipyard's 5,000 employees donate twice as much blood as any other organization their size. In 2011, Shipyard employees donated almost 2,200 pints of blood to the Red Cross and donations continue to increase.
The two other American Red Cross 2012 Heroes Breakfast award recipients were Deputy Chief Dana Ramspott of the Sunapee Fire and Rescue Department, who received the Emergency Services Award for saving the life of his friend, Paul Begin, who went into cardiac arrest while the two men were making deliveries in Newport; and Cub Scout John Kearney, who received the Youth Good Samaritan Award for saving the life of his mother, April Kearney, after she suffered a head injury while the family was hiking in the White Mountains.
Kearney kept pressure on his mom's head, kept talking to her and did not let her go to sleep until she was rescued.
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