Lewis Medina Honored As Citizen Of The Year In Kane County After Pulling Driver To Safety As Train Approached
GENEVA, Ill. (CBS) -- Moments before a mangled vehicle was hit by a train last month, an Aurora man pulled the unconscious driver to safety.
On Tuesday, that hero was named the Kane County Sheriff's Roscoe Ebey Citizen of the Year.
It was Saturday, Oct. 9, when Lewis Medina came to the rescue of a driver whose car was hit by a train in rural Sugar Grove Township.
Medina told CBS 2's Charlie De Mar last month that he had first noticed the car spinning its wheels and called 911. County Sheriff Ron Hain played the 911 call during a Kane County Board meeting Tuesday.
"As we crossed the tracks down the road, I noticed a vehicle on the tracks spinning its wheels," Medina said last month. "I told 911, 'I think he might be drunk.'"
Medina got the driver out of the car. The 72-year-old behind the wheel was having a medical emergency and unable to get out on his own.
Medina unbuckled and pulled the driver out with just seconds to spare before the train crushed the car.
"As soon as I got him at the bottom of hill, the train smashed the car," Medina said.