Four Wyoming Department of Transportation maintenance workers are being honored for saving the life of a man earlier this year on U.S. Highway 14 east of Greybull in the Bighorn Mountains.
WYDOT says Fred Sherburne, Craig Brown, Catarino Zapata and Logan Whipple, all of Basin, arrived at a worksite on January 3rd to clean up an ice flow that was moving toward the highway 28.9 miles east of Greybull in the Bighorn Mountains.
Zapata and Brown were the first to arrive and began placing traffic control signs on each end of the work zone. That’s when a driver pulled off the side of the highway while suffered from serious bleeding.
Sherburned and Whipple arrived on the scene, and together the group of men administered aid, contacted WYDOT’s Transportation Management Center in Cheyenne, and moved traffic around the scene.
An air ambulance was dispatched and arrived on scene at about the same time as the second ambulance vehicle. Brown and Whipple were able to clear a highway pullout of snow so the helicopter could safely land. Upon arrival, traffic was stopped on each end of the WYDOT work site and the road was closed to allow the helicopter to land, take off and transport the injured man to a Billings hospital. He survived his ordeal.
Fred Sherburne, Craig Brown, Catarino Zapata and Logan Whipple were presented with the G. Clyde Larson Memorial Award in March for their heroic actions near Shell Falls.
The G. Clyde Larson Memorial Award recognizes acts of heroism by WYDOT employees either on or off the job.
WYDOT Transportation Commission Chair Susan Holmes of Sheridan and Commissioner Mike Baker of Thermopolis were in attendance at the awards luncheon, along with WYDOT Director Darin Westby, District 5 Engineer Peter Hallsten and other WYDOT employees.
“Thank you for your quick thinking and decisive actions,” WYDOT Director Darin Westby said at the ceremony. “When faced with a serious situation, you stepped up and reacted professionally and compassionately in this man’s time of need. Your integrity and dedication to your neighbors and travelers throughout our state makes me incredibly proud to work alongside you and your fellow employees.”
Since its inception nearly 55 years ago, 62 WYDOT employees, including the Basin employees, have been honored with the G. Clyde Larson Memorial Award.
