because his temporary tag was by a cover plate. He was also driving with a suspended right,
a special honor for a member.
Our local ten news family, the
fire department, a hailing
Yazzie, a hero after our anchor
selflessly jumped into action,
Eric came across badly injured
teenager who had fallen off his
motorized skateboard. Eric He
had to act and act fast. Janine
Stanwood is live in Miramar with
the special honors. Janine If
you know Eric personally, if you
know him from news, you will not
be surprised to hear that. He
says that it was his dad that
just kicked in. He knew that
this teenager was badly injured
. He knew he had to jump into
action. You got to reunite with
that teenager. And of course, he
that special honor that. How are
you doing? Good to see you again
. Good to see you. Feeling good
seeing each other for the first
time in nine months. Our
colleague morning anchor, Eric
Yazzie and, the teenager he
helped save after a nasty,
dangerous skateboarding. Dropped
off the kids and is heading down
the street. It was October
seventh. Eric was driving when.
He noticed Gabriel Ortiz at
corner of Miramar Parkway and
south west 172nd Avenue. I was
on a skateboard. Then I fell,
but then I just had to keep
running, find something because
I was just on a sidewalk by
myself. I saw a kid in khakis
running like they weren’t. I
mean, this is a kid in a dead
sprint. And he said. Wait, this
is different. This is this is
weird. And so I wrote on the
window, I can hear him
screaming. Gabriel fractured his
arm in multiple places, bone
punctured through a skin. I
said, Are you okay? He says, no,
and it lifts up his. I said, I
don’t even know like who you
anything. I was just like you
were there and. I was like,
Thank God. I was on my way to
pick him up. And then I hear the
phone ring and it’s my
grandson’s phone, so. And then
enter the phone over and he says
, I’m with your grandson.
Miramar Fire Rescue and takes
Gabriel to the hospital where he
would spend several days and the
recovery continues. Thank You
very much for. Eric is the
recipient of the civilian award
from the department and a
special plaque. Thank God Eric
it caught our or whatever it did
that you stopped it because
nobody else did. It’s a nice
award and I’m grateful for it. I
think at the end of the I hope
it inspires people to pay a
little more attention to their
surroundings. It’s just it’s so
great that someone like like him
was there for me. And you heard
first responders here at
Miramar. Miramar They say it
really was a good thing that
Eric showed up when he did
because. People were just
driving by. And if you can
believe it, nobody was. We asked
Gabriel how felt. He is
definitely feeling better. He
has that skateboard, by the way
but he hasn’t been on it. And
Grandma and everybody else is
happy about that. So yeah,
they’re making him stay alive.
What a story. We all know that
Eric is a hero. A hero to all of
us. To Eric. I know. Can hear us
that kind of my heart a little
bit. When I heard Fire Rescue
Officer say that nobody else
stopped. You have four kids
yourself, so I’m sure that made
you feel a certain way to. Yeah,
you know, and in that moment,
it’s just about being a father,
you know? Nicole certainly is.
You know, when you have your
child, your child may be in
danger or if you can’t be there,
you are hopeful that someone
else can be there in that
moment. So that’s all it was.
The minute I saw him was just
another is about the same age as
some of my son’s as a kid who
needed help. And it was pretty
to do whatever you could at
least make feel comfortable and
hopefully get the help you need.
I mean, you did not hesitate,
not for a second, when it was
just dad instincts that just
clicked in in that moment, did
you have any kind of first aid
training and passed that we
don’t know about here in Dallas
? No, no, no, no Specialized
training and careers passed know
we’ve done the CPR training and
some of the first day things at
local time. Studios, you guys
have done along alongside me.
But really just that instincts
and the dedication to the
community it takes a village to
raise a family I have so many
great people in my village that
help me outside the home and so
an opportunity to step in and be
a part of the greater village of
south Florida raising young
people. You know, you take
advantage of opportunity. You
get. Okay. Lastly 5 seconds,
Eric, what did your wife kids
say when they heard about this
story? They were thrilled. They
were excited. They were proud.
And I guess they say it didn’t
surprise them. You know, you
take care of everybody. You come
across as best you can. Like our
first responder is here in south
Florida, is you single day. Well
you local ten family is
certainly very proud very
grateful that we have a
colleague like you that can save
our. You know what? It’s going
to be out here at the local ten
studios. I’m glad you’re on our
team. Thank you, Eric. And thank