thedrifter
01-19-07, 09:08 AM
Camp Pendleton Marine in running for magazine heroism award
By: JOE BECK - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON -- Marine Sgt. Jamie Nicholson drove into a San Diego McDonald's one morning in May 2005 looking for a quick breakfast. Minutes later, he drove out as a hero bound for national acclaim after saving a man from serious injury or death in a freak accident.
Nicholson's rescue of the man, whose head had become lodged in the doorjamb of his vehicle at the restaurant's drive-up window, brought him to the attention of editors at Reader's Digest magazine. They saluted him in the October 2006 issue with an article designating him as the month's "Everyday Hero," a distinction that qualified him as one of 12 candidates for the magazine's 2007 Hero of the Year award.
His picture and story, along with those of the other candidates, are available at www.rd.com/heroes, a Web site where readers can choose the Hero of the Year by voting in an online poll until midnight Jan. 31.
Win or lose, Nicholson said he doesn't quite understand all the fuss about his deed.
"I actually read some of the other nominations, and they seem a lot more heroic than anything I performed that day," he said.
The nomination surprised him, as did the accident when he came upon it.
"I don't think I could have thought up a scenario like that happening. It was very, very odd, to say the least," he said.
Nicholson recalls seeing no sign of trouble upon entering the McDonald's on Balboa Avenue until he went to place his order at the drive-up speaker.
"I couldn't see anything, but I heard the lady on the intercom. She sounded in distress and told me to hold on," he said.
Nicholson said he waited a few moments, then drove ahead and saw what had alarmed the woman on the intercom: A car had been driven up against the wall of the restaurant by the pay window.
"At first, I thought, 'Oh great.' I was going to drive right on by," he said.
Then, as he approached the passenger side of the vehicle, he saw the door on other side was partly open and pushed up against the wall. Nicholson said the driver inside had his head and neck pinned in the doorjamb. Grabbing a tire iron from his own vehicle, Nicholson broke one of the windows of the other vehicle and reached inside far enough to grab the vehicle's gearshift and move it into reverse, then park. His actions freed the victim from his predicament.
Nicholson, a Marine since 1996 with one tour in Iraq under his belt, divides his time between the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego and Camp Pendleton, where he serves as a drill instructor.
As a drill instructor, he is certified as an American Red Cross life guard, training he credits with playing a vital part in reviving the victim, who was unconscious by the time he reached him.
Nicholson said he learned later from restaurant employees that the victim had become trapped after opening the car's door and reaching down on the pavement to retrieve some change that had fallen off the drive through counter.
"It idled forward, hit the wall. Once it hit the wall, he panicked and inadvertently pressed the accelerator pedal and was kind of rigid and incapacitated and unable to move any part of his body," Nicholson said.
Jody Rohlena, a senior staff editor responsible for the "Everyday Heroes" feature at Reader's Digest, said the magazine has received 8,000 votes for Hero of the Year. She refused to say who was leading.
Past winners of the 4-year-old award have been invited to New York for a ceremony honoring them at the daily opening of the New York Stock Exchange, Rohlena said.
"We're not sure what the special ceremony will be this year, but it will be equally impressive," she said.
-- Contact staff writer Joe Beck at (760) 740-3516 or jbeck@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By: JOE BECK - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON -- Marine Sgt. Jamie Nicholson drove into a San Diego McDonald's one morning in May 2005 looking for a quick breakfast. Minutes later, he drove out as a hero bound for national acclaim after saving a man from serious injury or death in a freak accident.
Nicholson's rescue of the man, whose head had become lodged in the doorjamb of his vehicle at the restaurant's drive-up window, brought him to the attention of editors at Reader's Digest magazine. They saluted him in the October 2006 issue with an article designating him as the month's "Everyday Hero," a distinction that qualified him as one of 12 candidates for the magazine's 2007 Hero of the Year award.
His picture and story, along with those of the other candidates, are available at www.rd.com/heroes, a Web site where readers can choose the Hero of the Year by voting in an online poll until midnight Jan. 31.
Win or lose, Nicholson said he doesn't quite understand all the fuss about his deed.
"I actually read some of the other nominations, and they seem a lot more heroic than anything I performed that day," he said.
The nomination surprised him, as did the accident when he came upon it.
"I don't think I could have thought up a scenario like that happening. It was very, very odd, to say the least," he said.
Nicholson recalls seeing no sign of trouble upon entering the McDonald's on Balboa Avenue until he went to place his order at the drive-up speaker.
"I couldn't see anything, but I heard the lady on the intercom. She sounded in distress and told me to hold on," he said.
Nicholson said he waited a few moments, then drove ahead and saw what had alarmed the woman on the intercom: A car had been driven up against the wall of the restaurant by the pay window.
"At first, I thought, 'Oh great.' I was going to drive right on by," he said.
Then, as he approached the passenger side of the vehicle, he saw the door on other side was partly open and pushed up against the wall. Nicholson said the driver inside had his head and neck pinned in the doorjamb. Grabbing a tire iron from his own vehicle, Nicholson broke one of the windows of the other vehicle and reached inside far enough to grab the vehicle's gearshift and move it into reverse, then park. His actions freed the victim from his predicament.
Nicholson, a Marine since 1996 with one tour in Iraq under his belt, divides his time between the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego and Camp Pendleton, where he serves as a drill instructor.
As a drill instructor, he is certified as an American Red Cross life guard, training he credits with playing a vital part in reviving the victim, who was unconscious by the time he reached him.
Nicholson said he learned later from restaurant employees that the victim had become trapped after opening the car's door and reaching down on the pavement to retrieve some change that had fallen off the drive through counter.
"It idled forward, hit the wall. Once it hit the wall, he panicked and inadvertently pressed the accelerator pedal and was kind of rigid and incapacitated and unable to move any part of his body," Nicholson said.
Jody Rohlena, a senior staff editor responsible for the "Everyday Heroes" feature at Reader's Digest, said the magazine has received 8,000 votes for Hero of the Year. She refused to say who was leading.
Past winners of the 4-year-old award have been invited to New York for a ceremony honoring them at the daily opening of the New York Stock Exchange, Rohlena said.
"We're not sure what the special ceremony will be this year, but it will be equally impressive," she said.
-- Contact staff writer Joe Beck at (760) 740-3516 or jbeck@nctimes.com.
Ellie