Cape firefighter given award for off-duty rescue in April

Ninety seconds. That's all. A month and a half later, it's the time aspect that bothers Harry Schumer the most.

The Rev. Daniel McCall was banged up but alive, talking and mobile when Schumer reached him. McCall escaped death by those 90 seconds.

"At the time, you do what you do and you don't think about it. ... Afterward, I got to thinking, 90 seconds isn't that long. And then we would have had to back off. For someone that's alive and conscious, that is scary," said Schumer, a firefighter with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

On Friday, Schumer was recognized for his heroism and was presented a medal of valor. It's been at least four years since the last medal of valor was awarded, fire chief Rick Ennis said.

Dusk hadn't fallen yet April 24 as Schumer was driving to Brewer, Mo., to visit a friend. As he neared Perryville he slowed down when he saw a tractor-trailer and car pulled off to the side of Interstate 55. The air was still dusty from an accident.

Schumer's wife was the first to spot an overturned pickup truck, lying on its roof in a concrete gutter. Three people had already assembled at the scene. One was passing a pocketknife to McCall, whose truck had rolled four times when a tire blew. McCall had been on his way home to St. Louis after spending the afternoon in Advance, Mo.

With the knife, McCall, 56, frantically worked to cut himself out of his seat belt. Alone in the truck, he was trapped under the smashed frame.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Rick Ennis, right, presented Harry Schumer with the Medal of Valor Friday afternoon, June 6, 2008, at Cape Girardeau Fire Station No. 1. While off duty, Ennis broke out a windshield with his bare hands to save a man from his flaming vehicle.

Two other bystanders were firefighters, like Schumer. They were using a load lock from the tractor-trailer that had stopped to try to pry open McCall's door.

From his experience, Schumer doubted that would release McCall. He started searching for other means. McCall could only fit his head and part of his chest through the window. The windshield was shattered but still in place.

Dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt, Schumer, 49, lacked his usual rescue gear: protective clothing, water, cutting tools. Schumer had worked for 21 years as a Cape Girardeau firefighter but almost felt helpless.

"You're kind of left out on your own. You have to improvise, use what you've got. Which at this time was basically nothing. Just your knowledge," he said.

As he ran through escape methods in his head, the engine caught fire. He knew it wouldn't take long for the whole vehicle to be in flames.

Wiggling his way between the ground and hood, Schumer used his bare fists to punch and pull out the windshield. Eventually a hole was big enough for McCall to crawl out. Once McCall came out halfway, Schumer pulled him the rest of the way out.

About three minutes had passed since Schumer had arrived, and within 90 seconds of McCall's escape his vehicle was engulfed.

As Schumer reached to stabilize McCall's head, he realized blood from his hands was covering McCall. An ambulance and firetruck arrived, and both McCall and Schumer were taken to the hospital.

Glass was removed from Schumer's hands, but no stitches were needed. "I was still picking glass out of them three days later," he said. McCall was treated for a sprained back and neck.

McCall was present at Friday's ceremony, the first time he has been reunited with Schumer.

"I wasn't really shook up until some of the guys said they couldn't get me out. I asked for a cell phone -- mine was crushed -- to call my wife, tell her I love her, and that I wouldn't be home. But Harry said, 'I'm not going to leave you in there,'" McCall said. "He wasn't going to give up, but I wouldn't have blamed him if he stepped away."

Schumer doesn't call himself a hero, and said he did what any of his colleagues would have done.

"He's just a quiet and consistently good worker. He's not very flashy. He just comes to work every day and does whatever is asked of him. We're very proud of Harry," Ennis said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

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Other Cape Girardeau firefighters recognized Friday:

• Brian Shaffer, promoted to battalion chief in October.
• Jeff Crites, promoted to captain in October.
• Gail Phillips, Chris Venable, Derrick Carlton, Brian Hadler, Ryan Rascher, Richard Bollinger and JoJo Stuart, who have been hired as firefighters in the last two years.
• Jamie Hann, Lucas Simmons and Gary Jones, who just completed their first week. They were hired through funding from a SAFER grant.