Our Hero

One thing that helps me get past the grief of losing my brother is remembering that Mason's life was saved. If Mason had been in that van a few moments longer, he would have been completely engulfed in flames and killed like his brother. But God brought us a man to rescue him. Navor Hernandez pulled Mason out of the burning van and rolled with him on the ground to help put out the flames. Over the past year, Navor has rightfully won numerous awards for saving Mason's life without hesitation. The Central Texas Chapter of the American Red Cross presented Navor with The Adult Good Samaritan Award for 2007 at their annual Heroes Banquet on April 15th. You can see a photo of him receiving the award on the Red Cross website.


Navor was also honored with the Gold Vail Award, a prestigious award given in the telecommunications industry for life saving actions. It has been awarded less than 30 times in the past. Navor works for AT&T and he passes the site of the accident on his way to work. Navor had this read at his acceptance of the award:

Since it was announced to me that I would be receiving one of AT&T's highest awards, I was very honored. I am proud to work for a company that has gone to such lengths for one individual person like myself, to let me know that I am not just a number like we've all heard in the past about big corporations. The day of the accident changed many lives including my own. Every week I drive down that same road to go to one of my offices and just a week after the accident I noticed a giant burned mark almost 15 feet in diameter where the grass was burned from the fire of the young men's can. To this day, I cannot help but look at that spot as I drive by remembering exactly what took place that day. I have stayed in touch with the Hagen family over the past 9 months since their oldest son passed away. The few
times I've seen Mr. Hagen, the look on his face lets me know how grateful he is. Just 3 days ago, I saw Mrs. Hagen at a local store along with their youngest son and when she came up to me and hugged me, I could tell that her heart is slowly mending just like that burned spot on the road which is now covered with thick green grass. I apologize and hope you do not think that I'm taking the easy way out by letting someone read this letter, but after all, I am not a public speaker, just a PLAIN OLD TELEPHONE MAN!

Thank you,
Navor

For more information, go here: http://district6.cwa-union.org/news/page.jsp?itemID=28919413.

Navor has also received a Certification of Commendation from Gov. Rick Perry, and the Central Texas Heroes Award (I think Dad knows more about this one - I couldn't find any information on it).

KXAN did a news story on Navor and his awards. There used to be a really moving video but now they just have the transcript online at http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?s=6971070.

Praise God for him.

Heidi