FORT STEWART Ga. — It was almost 10 a.m., on June 11 as Joe Spry drove along Hase Road going to a work site as part of his job with the Department of Public Works when he saw a lady on the side of the road in physical distress.
Instead of driving pass her like he said others had already did, he stopped to offer aid to the lady.
As it turned out, the lady, Christina Juarez, who is almost eight-months pregnant, was very sick.
Spry said he saw Juarez from about four cars back kneel down on her knees next to her truck throwing up and holding her belly.
Juarez is married to Cpl. Adam Juarez, a motarman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
Juarez had just entered post on her way to Winn Army Community Hospital for an appointment when she started to feel sick. She said it felt like she was going to black out, so she decided to pull over.
She said she tried to get someone to stop, but to no avail. She said several cars passed her without stopping before Spry finally stopped.
“It was clear to see she was under distress,” said Spry, who has been with DPW about four years. “Finally when I got up to her, I Jumped out and asked her and she said, ‘No, I’m blacking out.’ I said if you can secure your vehicle, I’ll take you to the emergency room.”
Spry said it took him a couple of minutes to get her to the emergency room.
“Surprisingly, it was only one other person in the ER at the time, so they saw her rather quickly,” said Spry, who retired as a master sergeant from the Air Force after more than 20 years.
Spry said he had never done anything like that before.
“I’ve helped people change tires before, but never anything like that, this is the first situation like this I’ve encountered.”
Juarez is glad he decided to stop.
“The guy was wonderful, he stopped and cared and showed some compassion,” said Christina Juarez, a Joliet, Ill., native who is expecting the couple’s first child, a girl, in August. “I don’t think I would have made it, I couldn’t even see.”
Juarez said the combination of the heat, drinking a lot of water and the position of her baby caused her blood pressure to drop. She spent about four hours at the hospital before returning home.
Juarez said she was concerned about leaving her husband’s truck, but Spry ensured her that it would be Ok. She drove her husband’s truck because he took her vehicle to Savannah to get serviced.
Spry placed a note on the windshield explaining the situation in case military personnel came upon her car. He also left his phone number, which Cpl. Juarez used to call Spry’s supervisors and Spry himself to offer his gratitude.
“He said how appreciative he was,” Spry said.
Christina agreed.
“He [Adam] felt kind of bad that he couldn’t be there, he felt kind of helpless because he is always there for me,” she said.
As a result of Cpl. Juarez’s call to DPW, the word of Spry’s good deed reached the Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield Garrison Commander Col. Kevin Gregory, who presented Spry with a garrison coin on June 20.
“That’s the attitude we’re looking for and we personified around here in garrison and we really thank you,” Gregory said as he presented the coin. “You represent all the values that we hope to emulate.”
Source: Staff Sergeant Roger RyDell Daniels. “Joe Spry, a good deed appreciated.” Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System. 28 June 2013 <http://www.dvidshub.net/news/109459/joe-spry-good-deed-appreciated#.Uc709BaIC24>.
Note: “This work, Joe Spry, a good deed appreciated, by SSG Roger RyDell Daniels, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.”
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