| ON
THE MORNING OF SUNDAY NOVEMBER 28, 2004, BOONE GROVE SOPHOMORES
JAKE PIVARNIK AND DAVID WICHLINSKI WERE DRIVING TO CHURCH AT ST.
MARY IN KOUTS IN SEPARATE CARS. THEY WERE DRIVING SOUTHBOUND ON
A COUNTRY ROAD- SMOKE ROAD- WHEN THEY SPOTTED A CAR IN THE
NORTHBOUND LANE STRIKE A GUARDRAIL AT A BRIDGE OVER A RAVINE AND
FLIP IN THE AIR. THEY SAID IT WAS LIKE SOMETHING YOU’D SEE IN A
PREVIEW FOR THE NEW DUKES OF HAZZARD MOVIE…BUT THIS TIME IT WAS
REAL.
AS THEY CONTINUED, THEY PASSED
THE SCENE AND BY NOW THE CAR HAD SLID DOWN A DITCH INTO AN
OVERFLOWING RAVINE. THE BOYS QUICKLY REACTED AND SAFELY PULLED
OVER. BOTH JAKE AND DAVID, AND ANOTHER MAN WHO HAD ALSO STOPPED,
RAN FROM THEIR CARS TO FIND A GIRL PLEADING FOR HELP. HER CAR
WAS NEARLY UPSIDE DOWN AND FILLING RAPIDLY WITH WATER.
JAKE REMEMBERED THAT HE HAD A
BASEBALL BAT IN HIS TRUNK. JAKE RAN TO GET THE BAT AS DAVID AND
THE MAN CALLED 911. THE TEENS USED THE BAT TO SMASH OPEN THE
DRIVER’S SIDE WINDOW, FREEING 21-YEAR-OLD ERIN BOYD, A STUDENT
AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY NORTHWEST, A GIRL THE BOYS REMEMBERED FROM
HER EMPLOYMENT AT THE KOUTS SUBWAY, AND A FELLOW PARISHIONER OF
ST. MARY.
RESCUE WORKERS REMAINED AT THE
SCENE FOR NEARLY TWO HOURS INVESTIGATING AND FILING REPORTS, BUT
BY THEN THE TWO HEROES HAD PULLED BOYD FROM THE ACCIDENT,
LEAVING HER WITH ONLY BUMPS AND BRUISES, AND LEAVING HER TO ONLY
IMAGINE WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED HAD THE BOYS NOT DRIVEN BY AT
THE RIGHT TIME AND WITNESSED THE ACCIDENT.
AS IT TURNS OUT, JAKE AND DAVID
MISSED MASS THAT MORNING, BUT THEIR PASTOR, FATHER THOMAS TIBBS,
COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE PROUD OF THEIR ACTIONS. JAKE LATER TOLD
THE NORTHWEST INDIANA CATHOLIC THAT GOD PUT THEM THERE FOR A
REASON. SAID DAVID, “GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR SPECIAL TIMES AND
PLACES, AND HE PUTS PEOPLE IN THEM TO DO WORKS OF FAITH.” |
2005
BREATH OF THE SPIRIT AWARD
