Erin Bamer
Omaha World-Herald
Gov. Ricketts, state patrol present Carnegie Medal to heroic Nebraskan.
Frank Axiotes was driving with his family along Interstate 80 in Lincoln when he stopped to help at a three-vehicle collision, saving the lives of a young woman and her 9-year-old brother.
More than two years after the crash, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts presented Axiotes, who lives in the Elkhorn area, with the Carnegie Medal, considered to be the highest honor of civilian heroism in North America.
Ricketts presented the award to Axiotes at a news conference Monday afternoon. Axiotes is one of 17 winners of the medal for 2022.
“Frank is truly a hero for putting himself at risk to be able to help somebody else out,†Ricketts said.
After witnessing the crash on the opposite side of the interstate on Sept. 25, 2020, Axiotes pulled his car into the median and told his wife to call 911. Axiotes said he saw flames coming from the crash site almost immediately.
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As traffic around the site slowed, Axiotes crossed the lanes to help the two passengers inside one of the cars pinned to a guardrail by a semi-trailer truck. He said he was quickly able to remove the 9-year-old boy from the back seat, but the driver, 21-year-old Maddie Daly, was stuck.
With the help of another bystander, Axiotes broke through the car’s windshield using his hand, his boot and a glass breaker he had on him, leading to some cuts on his arm. They got Daly out of the car, and shortly after, Axiotes said, explosions occurred.
“It was kind of like a movie, where the timing was everything,†Axiotes said.
The four people in the crash sustained only minor injuries.
Col. John Bolduc, superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol, said Axiotes’ actions saved the lives of Daly and her brother. The patrol recommended him for the award after giving him a separate civilian honor last year.
A salesman for GMC, Axiotes doesn’t have the same emergency training first responders do, but he said responding to crises is something that’s “instilled†in him. With two children, he said if either of them was in a similar situation, he would hope someone else would do the same thing he did.
“When you see somebody in need, it’s easy to walk away, or to turn your head and look the other way,†he said. “But when there’s somebody that needs help, you need to be there.â€
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