Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Edmond Boy Scouts, adult leader honored for heroic act
NOW YOU'RE UP-TO-DATE WITH THE
LATEST FORECAST.
MARKIE A GROUP OF EDMOND BOY
SCOUTS AND AN ADULT LEADER WERE
CREDITED FOR SAVING ONE OF THEIR
OWN.
AND EDWARDS SLIPPED INTO FRIGID
WATERS IN COLORADO, AND THANKS
TO THE SKILLS THAT THE SCOUTS
LEARNED, HE WAS RESCUED.
JOINING US THIS MORNING IS WILL,
CHRIS, AND GUS.
THANKS FOR BEING WITH US.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOU MEDALS,
THEY ARE WELL DESERVED.
TAKE ME BACK TO JUNE, 2015, AND
WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY.
>> WE WERE HIKING, TRYING TO GET
50 MILES OUTSIDE OF DURANGO.
WE HAD BEEN HIKING FOR A BIT,
AND WE WERE BEGINNING OUR ASCENT
INTO THE CHICAGO BASIN, WHERE WE
WERE DOING MOST OF OUR HIKES.
THE GROUP HAD GOTTEN AHEAD OF
THE ADULTS AND AND THAT IS WHEN
IT HAPPENED.
WE STOPPED BY A RVER TO WAIT
FOR THEM TO CATCH UP, AND THAT
IS WHEN IT ALL WENT DOWN.
MARKIE: YOUR FRIEND BEN GOT
STUCK IN THE WATERS, TRAPPED
UNDERNEATH A TREE?
>> I A
SAW ANOTHER
SCOUT SAY, OH MY GOD, THEN.
I LOOKED INTO THE RIVER AND THEN
I SEE THIS BRIGHT YELLOW NEON
SURE THAT HE WAS WEARING, GOING
DOWN THE RIVER.
FROM WHERE HE SLIPPED INTO WHERE
THE TREE WAS, IT WAS PROBABLY 50
FEET OF FREEZING COLD RAPIDS.
AT NO POINT WAS THE RIVER MORE
THAN KNEE-DEEP, BUT THE WATER
COULD THROW BOULDERS DOWN.
I STARTED SCREAMING OUT HIS NAME
TO GET EVERYONE'S ATTENTION.
I SAW THAT THE TREE WAS DOWN
THERE, I CAPS ON SCREAMING AT
HIM TO GRAB ONTO THE TREE AND
HOLD ON UNTIL WE COULD GET
THERE.
AT THAT POINT, ONCE EVERYONE WAS
DOWN THERE, MY BROTHER WAS THE
FIRST TO TRY SOMETHING.
HE GOT A SMALL TREE, TRIED TO
GET BEN WITH THAT.
IT WAS SO ROTTEN, BEN WAS BEING
FORCED UNDER THE TREE WITH EVERY
PASSING MOMENT, SO IT WAS NOT
ENOUGH TO PULL HIM OUT.
AT THAT POINT, GUS REALIZED THAT
HE NEEDED TO GET IN THERE TO TRY
TO GRAB BEN.
THERE WAS A CALM ST NEAR TO
WHERE HE WAS.
>> THERE WAS AN EDDY.
I TOOK MY SHOES OFF SO THAT I
COULD FEEL THE BOTTOM, AND I
WALKED OUT TO WHERE HE WAS
CAUGHT.
HE WAS OVER A WATERFALL MORE OR
LESS, NOT A BIG ONE, BUT IF HE
HAD GONE OVER, IT WOULD NOT HAVE
BEEN THE SAME.
MARKIE: THIS HAPPENED IN THE
BLINK OF AN EYE.
CHRIS, YOU ARE GUS' DAD.
WHAT KIND OF SKILLS WOULD HAVE
BEEN IN PLACE FOR THESE YOUNG
MEN TO KNOW HOW TO REACT?
THERE IS NO WHITEWATER RABID
LIFE-SAVING BADGE, BUT THE
OVERALL SCOUTING SKILLS THAT
THESE KIDS LEARN -- THEY LEARN
LIFE-SAVING AND EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS, ALL OF THESE
OVERALL SKILLS.
IT ALL JUST KIND OF CLICKED IN.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, THEY KNEW
SOMEBODY WAS IN THE WATER THAT
NEEDED HELP.
MARKIE: YOU S BEN IS DOING
JUST FINE NOW.
DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER THAT
MOMENT?
BEFORE THE INTERVIEW, WE WERE
TALKING, ADRENALINE TAKES OVER.
DO YOU HAVE MANY MEMORIES OF
WHAT HAPPENED, OR IS THIS MORE
SOMEBODY ELSE TELLING YOU WHAT
TO PLACE AFTERWARD?
>> FOR ME, I REMEMBE TIMES WHEN
I STOPPED MOVING, BUT ONCE I WAS
MOVING AGAIN, IT WAS LIKE A
BLUR.
I WAS AT THE TOP OF THE TRAIL,
AND WHEN I RAN DOWN, I DON'T
REALLY REMEMBER ANYTHING.
I STOPPED FOR A SECOND, WHICH IS
WHAT I REMEMBER.
THEN I GOT IN THE WATER,
EVERYTHING TURNS OFF, AND YOU
HAVE ONE GOAL.
MARKIE: IT IS ABOUT SAVING
FRIENDS.
YOU ARE HEROES, WHETHER OR NOT
YOU WANT TO ADMIT IT.
BEN'S FAMILY IS FOREVER THANKFUL
TO YOU.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET THE
MEDAL OF HONOR, THE MEDAL OF
MERIT, TO ALL THREE OF YOU?
>> IT IS A HUGE HONOR.
THIS WAS THE MOST MEDAL OF
MERIT'S GIVEN TO BOY SCOUTS FOR
A SINGLE EVENT, EVER.
SO I FEEL LIKE THAT WAS A HUGE
HONOR FOR US, THAT SO MANY
PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO HELP OUT, TO
MAKE SURE THAT HE WAS SAFE.
FOR THESE TWO, MEDAL OF HONOR, I
WILL LET THEM --
>> WE JUST DID WHAT HAD TO BE
DONE.
THE KIDS WERE AHEAD BECAUSE THE
ADULTS WERE BEHIND.
THERE IS A KID IN THE WATER, WE
RUN.
MY SON IS IN THE WATER, THEY ARE
DOING ALL THEY CAN TO HELP.
YOU JUST REACT.
THE METAL IS A GREAT HONOR, BUT
HONOR OR NOT, THERE WAS A NEED
THERE.
YOU JUST RESPOND.
MARKIE: GUS, TO ANYBODY WATCHING
THIS MORNING THINKING ABOUT
JOINING THE BOY SCOUTS, WHAT IS
YOUR BIGGEST TAKE AWAY FROM
BEING A PART OF THIS GROUP?
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE?
>> IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED,
GO FOR IT.
IT HAS HELPED ME A LOT, NOT JUST
IN SCOUTING, BUT OTHER ASPECTS
OF MY LIFE.
I HAVE BECOME BETTER AND SO MANY
OTHER SKILLS.
IT IS NOT JUST BASIC CAMPING.
YOU LEARN THAT STUFF, BUT THAT
IS NOT ALL YOU LEARN.
THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER WAYS
THAT YOU CAN APPLY YOURSELF,
YOUR TRAINING IN THIS.
IT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I
THINK I WILL ALWAYS BE GLAD I
DID, GETTING IN SCOUTING,
GETTING MY EAGLE, LEARNING THESE
SKILLS THAT I WILL BE WITH THE
USE THE REST OF MY LIFE.
MARKIE: THANK YOU TO ALL THREE
OF YOU.
I WANT TO SHAKE YOUR HAND
BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE HEROES.
APPRECIATE THE TIME THAT YOU
TOOK TO TALK TO US TODAY.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME.
