Michael Hyon '13 and Heather Schopper '12, and Peter Smallidge, director of the Arnot Forest, were recognized as "local heroes" at the Red Cross 2011 Real Heroes Award breakfast April 29 at the Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) Field House.

Each recipient was sponsored by a local organization and chosen based on merit and compatibility with a designated category.

The Adult Good Samaritan award, sponsored by Pall Trinity, was given to Hyon and Schopper for their roles in saving the life of a first-year student who suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest Oct. 18, 2010, in the sub-basement of Kroch Library. Hyon had taken emergency medical training courses over the summer, called paramedics and began CPR. Schopper, a volunteer member of Cornell University Emergency Medical Service who was on duty by herself that day, responded with emergency response staff from Environmental Health and Safety and used an automated external defibrillator to get a heartbeat. The student was revived and has fully recovered.

The Emergency Rescue award, sponsored by TC3 Communications, was given to Smallidge and two area volunteer firemen, cousins Josh Smith and Brett Smith. Smallidge coordinated the search for an elementary school student who had been lost in the 4,000-acre Arnot Forest in October 2010. After several hours, she had not yet been found, so Smallidge teamed up with the Smiths to crawl through brush and briars in the most hard-to-reach sections of the Arnot Forest. The girl was found unharmed in the area Smallidge had surmised she would be, just before dark.

Awards to other local individuals included those given for animal rescue, industrial safety, military and youth good Samaritans.