Don?t sweat the small stuff. Those are words to live by, said John Dick and his son Tyler, 11, who each lost a leg when a drugged driver swerved off Route 100 in Glen Burnie two years ago and struck them as they changed a flat tire.
“I just deal with life a whole lot better now,” Dick said Wednesday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court at a ceremony honoring several individuals for helping victims in need.
For Dick, the ceremony allowed him to thank James Goetz, a retired Anne Arundel firefighter, who used a tire iron to make a tourniquet and save Dick from bleeding to death.
“I don?t know what more I can do to thank and honor him,” Dick said.
Also recognized were five members of the Anne Arundel Police Traffic Safety Division and former prosecutor Shelly Glenn who handled auto-manslaughter cases.
The ceremony was an emotional reminder for many victims, including Meg Enck, of Millersville, whose teenage daughter Lisa Haenal was killed walking to junior high school in January 1993.
Enck was crying and smiling as she hugged Deputy Sheriff Ted Vanorsdal, who was recognized for orchestrating an unprecedented meeting between the family members of three murder victims and the killer Alexander Watson Jr.
Two Annapolis women, who did not want to be named for their safety, were recognized for coming forward as witnesses to the murder of Aaron “Peach Cake” Brown Sr., 44, of Tyler Avenue, on April 15, 2007, in the Eastport Harbour House Community.
The women provided crucial testimony that helped prosecutors convict shooter Carlos Rice, 21, of Annapolis.
State?s Attorney Frank Weathersbee also presented the Warren B. Duckett Jr. Award to Cpls. Jonas Ignatavicius and Sue Pugliese for their work in domestic violence.
“These aren?t just police officers,” Weathersbee said.
“These people have reached out to victims in extraordinary ways.”
