Jennifer Martin, nominated by Willow Springs Fire Department

On February 20, 2025, Jennifer Martin, a schoolteacher, was watching her son sledding in the family’s front yard when she observed a young neighbor walking on the iced-over pond across the street. The boy then disappeared through the ice. Martin had her son call 911 and ran to the edge of the pond. She then crawled across the ice to reach the child, who was struggling to stay above water. Martin mustered the strength to pull the boy out of the water, helped him crawl back to land and then walked him home. When the Willow Springs Fire Department and EMS arrived, they evaluated the boy for hypothermia, warmed him in an ambulance and monitored his condition. As the sole witness to the child’s plight, only Martin could play the role of hero. And that is precisely what she did: immediately summoning the courage to risk her own safety to rescue a child in a dire emergency.

Elizabeth Lord, nominated by Missouri Department of Transportation

On May 21, 2025, a MoDOT team was replacing a storm-damaged light pole in Jackson, Mo. The new pole rotated as it was being erected and hit an electric wire, causing an explosion and sending electrical shocks to three MoDOT employees. MoDOT team members pulled the two most seriously injured to safety and used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames that had enveloped them. MoDOT’s Bryant Sheehy then began administering CPR to one of the team members. Elizabeth Lord, a certified nursing assistant, was driving her daughter to work when she witnessed the explosion. Understanding that CPR can be exhausting, Lord took over CPR from Sheehy. The victim coded twice, but Lord continued applying CPR and helped a police officer administer an AED shock. Jackson Fire Rescue arrived and Lord continued administering CPR as paramedics delivered a second AED shock. The victim’s heart began beating again. The two injured MoDOT team members were flown to an ICU burn unit in St. Louis and have recovered. Lord, who has stayed in touch with the MoDOT team members, acted selflessly, as a Good Samaritan – stopping when a stranger needed help and becoming a true lifesaver.