By Baylie Evans
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Ten-year-old William Wyatt Kunert said he knew when he pushed his 2-year-old brother away from an attacking dog that he might get bitten himself.
But that didn’t stop him.
That action earned him the Everyday Heroes award from the local American Medical Response team Wednesday.
In March, while Wyatt and his brother, Jordan Martinez, were standing on their front porch, a neighbor’s pit bull jumped its 4-foot chain link fence and came after them.
Wyatt had already been attacked by that dog before and still bears a couple of small scars on his face from the dog’s teeth.
That’s what makes his action to put himself between the dog and his brother even more admirable, Emilee McIntosh, one of the first responders who arrived after the attack, said.
Wyatt pushed his younger brother inside the house and tried to close the front door before the dog could reach them. But the dog got hold of Wyatt’s left thigh and didn’t let go for several minutes.
His injuries were severe, requiring surgery to repair his muscles and tissues and stitch him up.
If the dog had gotten hold of Jordan instead, “it could have killed him,” Wyatt’s mother, Lindsay Kunert, said. “We were just amazed that (Wyatt) had the know-how to push the baby out of the way.”
Wyatt spent some time recovering, but was back to normal Wednesday, running and jumping around like nothing had happened - though he says he’s no fan of big dogs anymore.
He smiled for pictures
with his brother, his mother and with the AMR team in front of the flashing lights of ambulances.
Courage is not a lack of fear, McIntosh said to Wyatt and the group. Instead, it’s a realization that something else is more important.
“In the face of fear, you made the judgment that your brother was more important,” McIntosh said.
The award was given as part of the annual national Emergency Medical Services Week. Every year, the Wednesday of the awareness week is focused on the work that EMS providers do for children.
Robert Waddell II, the chief of EMS for AMR, said they plan to present the Everyday Heroes award to kids in the community every year. But Wyatt is the first recipient of it.
His case is just one example of the work that EMS workers do every day, Waddell said.
Wyatt is the epitome of what EMS workers do, added Brenda Hammock, a clinical education specialist and paramedic with AMR.
“He’s a hero among heroes,” she said, indicating the full line of EMTs, paramedics and others surrounding Wyatt.
Copyright 2010 Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc.