NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE FORT WORTH, Texas -- A 301st Fighter Wing security forces squadron member was praised by a local resident for helping her out of what she described as a potentially fatal traffic accident Feb. 18.
Donna Irwin of Santo, Texas, explained the traumatic situation in a letter of appreciation to the 301st Fighter Wing commander.
“I would like to thank and highly commend Master Sgt. Paul Wright,” she wrote. “When Sergeant Wright arrived at the accident, I was hanging upside down as my car had rolled and was on its roof.”
Sergeant Wright, an Air Reserve Technician serving as NCOIC, Security Administration, was on his way to the base on that chilly Saturday morning. North Texas had fallen victim to a round of icy weather, and Sergeant Wright was about to witness one of several accidents that dotted the winter landscape on Interstate 30.
“The accident involved four vehicles, and I could see that Mrs. Irwin’s auto was overturned just beyond an overpass. I quickly stopped and rushed over to her vehicle to help her get out,” Sergeant Wright recalled.
Instinctively, as one would expect from a law enforcement veteran such as Sergeant Wright, he ensured that Mrs. Irwin had sustained no injury and made her as comfortable as possible.
“I helped her into my vehicle and out of the cold wind. I stayed with her through the police report and as the emergency medical technicians checked her again,” Sergeant Wright said. “Sometimes reassuring words help more than anything else in circumstances like these.”
Once the police report was finished, Sergeant Wright drove Mrs. Irwin to a friend’s house where she waited for her husband to arrive.
“Had it not been for him, a terrible ordeal would have been a lot worse,” Mrs. Irwin declared. Master Sergeant Wright’s cool and stable manner kept me calm so I could deal with the situation.”