Originally published in 2009
Tracy Cumby, Lubbock District maintenance administrator and RAMP coordinator, was one of the recipients of the “Extra Mile” award presented at Short Course in College Station on October 14, 2008.
Last February, Cumby was traveling the San Gabriel River bridge on U.S. 183 outside of Austin. He noticed traffic slowing and a line of cars stopped along the roadway. As he got closer to the bridge, he could seeseveral people had gotten out of their cars and were lining the bridge looking down toward the river.
An SUV had run off the road and had come to rest just inches from the river’s edge, and it was sitting precariously on the steep embankment in danger of rolling over into the rushing waters of the San Gabriel. There was one other person, who Cumby discovered later to be an off-duty police officer, working feverishly from the passenger side of the vehicle trying to administer aid to the driver who was unconscious and not breathing.
Cumby assisted in the rescue by clearing an airway for the victim, then administered oxygen and helped move the victim up the embankment to the ambulance.
“It was one of those situations where I really didn’t have time to think and just rushed down to help however I could,” said Cumby. “I’m just happy that I was able to help save a life that day.”
Congratulations, Tracy, on a well-earned award.