LEWISTON

The Red Cross honored heroes of the Midcoast, including a Highlands employee, an 11-year-old from Bath and the work-up crew of the Zumwalt, at a ceremony at in Lewiston on Tuesday.

June Casler of Brunswick has been employed by The Highlands in Topsham for 10 years, working in assisted living, independent living and the dementia unit. She was awarded the Workplace Safety Hero Award for her quick actions that saved two residents.

Casler said that on any given night, they attend to between 70 and 90 residents in the dining facility. One night when Casler was hostessing, she noticed a woman who appeared to be choking.

“I gave her abdominal thrusts and it worked. In the meantime, I looked over at Bob and he looked like he was choking — so I’m thinking, ‘This can’t be happening,’” Casler said.

Casler said she asked the resident if he was choking and he nodded, prompting a nurse to attempt abdominal thrusts on him without success. Casler took over and managed to restore the resident’s breathing.

“So, it was quite a night,” Casler said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

Youth hero

Ethan Reno was awarded the Youth Real Heroes Award for his quick thinking when he and his mother, Shannon, found an intruder in their Bath home.

Reno and his mother have since moved out of state, so Bath Police Chief Mike Field spoke of his actions that day.

Field said the two returned home to find the intruder hiding in their shower. An altercation ensued between Shannon Reno and the intruder before the intruder fled the scene.

Ethan Reno called 911 while his mother regained her composure, calmly providing an address, visual description of the man and even offering detailed information, telling the dispatcher the man smelled of cigarette smoke.

With his mother in tears beside him, Reno relayed information to dispatch, who in turn passed information along to officers who were responding. Using a tracking dog, officers located the man, perfectly matching the detailed description, less than a mile from the Renos’ home.

“Ethan’s composure under pressure was extraordinary and demonstrated how everyday citizens of any age can help police fight crime,” Field said.

Rescue at Sea

The first ever Rescue at Sea Award was presented to employees from Bath Iron Works for their actions during sea trials onboard the USS Zumwalt.

Mike Beaule, Ben Bovey, Bob Gordon, Mark Haines, Tom Niles and Scott Thomas were presented their award by Eric Gates, a 27-year military veteran and Manager, Services to the Armed Forces for the American Red Cross of Maine.

Gates said that one evening in December 2015, the Bath Iron Works sea trial crew of the Zumwalt received a request not unusual for a Naval vessel but certainly unusual for Bath Iron Works crew.

The crew was asked to assist the Coast Guard in the rescue of Capt. Dale Sparrow of the fishing vessel Danny Boy. Sparrow had been experiencing chest pains. The Coast Guard helicopter that responded to the distress call determined that it was unsafe to hoist the victim from the fishing boat.

The BIW crew quickly manned a small boat launched from Zumwalt and headed to the scene.

After transferring the fisherman to the destroyer, the man was safely hoisted into the helicopter and transported to Portland for further medical services.

Other honorees

Laurie Rumpf, of China, was honored with the Real Heroes Blood Services Award for holding community wide blood drives every 56 days since 2009.

Trevor Hanna, of Oakland, and John Dow, of Eliot, were honored with the Real Heroes Life Saving Award for their actions in rescuing an 8-year-old boy from a burning vehicle shortly before it exploded.

Laura Benedict, owner of the Red Barn Restaurant of Augusta, was honored with the Real Heroes Event Award for contributing thousands of dollars through her business to local organizations and individuals.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com