UNSUNG HERO: SAVING CATHY
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, IL (WSIL) -- A couple are bonded for life with an Energy Police Officer after a woman's life was saved from a burning building.
Cathy Hendrickson is a proud Grandmother.
"I know that's one reason why I'm here, because of them," she explained.
On Tuesday, November 23, just two days before Thanksgiving, Cathy came close to leaving them and her other loved ones. That evening, while watching TV in her apartment, her partner Denis Rautenstrauch noticed a funny smell.
"So, I got up and felt the lamp cord and receptacle behind the chair there. It wasn't bad. It just smelled like something warm, something like hot wiring," said Denis.
Cathy checked around her apartment and found nothing, but she said when she opened her front door, that smoke hit me in the face and knocked me back because it was so strong."
The complex was on fire somewhere, so Denis told Cathy to grab a blanket so they could escape the smoke, but the pair got separated.
"So I went back in, and I'm trying to find something, and I thought, maybe if I get a rag and soak it and put it over my face, that might help me. So, I did, and when I got back out in the hallway, you couldn't see anything. I didn't even know where the stairs were." said Cathy.
Denis made it out but quickly learned Cathy was no longer behind him. He ran into Energy Police Officer Sam Bryan, who was on patrol when he got the call of a fire and possible entrapment at an apartment complex on Ford Street.
"The scene evolved so rapidly from the fire that her apartment went from clear to (just) a blacked-out situation. Smoke had (just) inundated, and I sat there and looked up there, and my heart just sank, and I said to myself in my head, I'm going to watch this lady die here," said Officer Bryan.
Cathy said she remembered her grandbabies, so she had to try again to get out. Once she was out of her apartment, she fell down a set of stairs.
"At that time, she had enough energy in her. I swear that's all the energy she had left to yell for help," said Officer Bryan.
Both Denis and Officer Bryan ran back up the stairs, quickly grabbed Cathy, and dragged her out.
Cathy received treatment and only remembered waking up in Vanderbilt Hospital in Tennessee. She said she learned from doctors the next day that her throat had started to close up. Denis and Officer Bryan got a chance to reflect on what had happened.
"I cried a lot. I thought of a lot of things I could've done or if I would've done this if I would've done that, but it all turned out good. We're all breathing. We're all still here, and it could've been a lot worse," said Denis.
Officer Bryan said he had hoped that Cathy was still alive because he didn't know.
"As I reflected (back), tons of emotions were going through my head. One, pure sadness because I felt I could do more, and two is I hope she survives. It made me reflect (back) on a personal tragedy I had months prior with my younger sister being 42 passing away of a sudden cardiac rest. I didn't want her family to experience that," said Officer Bryan.
Cathy did survive, and News 3 was there when the trio reunited for the first time since that frightful night.
"When I walked in and saw her, I wanted to cry. Knowing that she had made it and was doing well," said Officer Bryan.
The pair embraced. "I can't think him enough, cried Cathy.
"It's not about thanking. It's about her will to survive. I was just at the right place at the right time, and any officer in my position would have done the same thing," added Officer Bryan.
Cathy said doctors told her she also had blisters on the back of her tongue. She said they also told her it would take a while before she sounds normal again, but Cathy is just grateful to be alive, and she is happy she gets to spend this Christmas with her grandbabies.
"I know my guardian angel was with me because I wouldn't have been able to holler if somebody hadn't been in that hallway with me." and I'm just so glad for both of these men."
Officer Bryan said the fire is still under investigation by the State Fire Marshall. Cathy has since been given keys to a new apartment, but she will need new furniture. Both Denis and Officer Bryan both suffered from some damage and said they hope this is a reminder to make sure you have an escape plan in place.
Officer Bryan said because "one had the will, another the drive, and Cathy the fight," she is alive today.
In December, Officer Bryan was awarded the Lifesavers Award and received a commendation for his actions during the fire.
