Hero of the Month
By Wayne Watson
April 12, 2017
Joseph Kasco works through me at my handyman service. His exploits as of late are exemplary and commendable. He should be made Hero of the Month. I’ve worked with Joseph for eight years now. I’ve always been proud of his fathering and his hardworking ethics. Today he showed his selflessness while risking his life to save someone he didn’t even know.
Around 2:30 today, Russel Brown went unconscious while in his running truck on Second St., forced the accelerator to the floor, and careened through all the porch posts at Tina’s Hair Salon and all but one of the porch posts at Island Arts. The truck was at full throttle, but stuck on the last post. The Street filled with burnt rubber smoke as the tires spun on the concrete. You couldn’t see but 5’ at the scene.
Joseph came running down the street to help as the posts were breaking and flying into the air. He jumped into the open window, through the truck into park, and turned the key to the off position. You couldn’t see, he shut things down because he knew where they were located. A Fireman handed him an oxygen mask, which Joseph held to Russel’s face until he came to in about three minutes. He told him that everything was OK, and that nobody else was hurt; Russel mellowed out. Joseph could have been seriously injured if the truck had broken through the last remaining post. What a man. When questioned, he said that he only did what he would hope someone else would do for him. Russel was lucky it was Joseph, because this is beyond what most people would ever attempt to do.
Two weeks ago, a neighbor two doors down, burnt down the lot and home of the in-between neighbor. The lot was dry and the winds were brisk, the fire roared quickly towards Joseph’s rental house. The fire department showed up in his yard, but didn’t have enough men to run the truck and the hoses. Joseph jumped right in, now fighting the fire with their hose. The smoke was intense as the wind was blowing the fire right at them all. The two fire fighters and Joseph stopped the fire about 10’ inside of the property line.
We should all be very proud that he lives here with us.
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