Two members of the street maintenance operations division of Lincoln Transportation and Utilities were presented with the Mayor’s Award of Excellence for September 2021.
Concrete Finisher Joel Brunke and Equipment Operator Cody Mitchell were presented with the award at Monday’s Lincoln City Council Meeting. Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird says Brunke and Mitchell were nominated in the category of valor for their heroic efforts to assist a man when a bridge collapsed near their work location last July.
“A man ran up to them and told them that a bridge had collapsed north of the shop. A piece of equipment fell from the bridge and into a creek below and that someone may have been trapped in the machine,” Gaylor Baird says. “Mitchell scaled a fence and called 911 as he ran to the bridge. Brunke ran to get additional help and a support vehicle.”
Gaylor Baird says Mitchell made his way down the embankment to what turned out to be a skid steer loader machine and a man who had been operating it had managed to climb out. “That man was sitting in about a foot of water leaning against the machine and as Mitchell approached him, the man passed out and slumped over with his head under water.”
Mitchell held the man’s head above water and talked to him. Grunke watched for LFR so he could direct them to the obscure location.
District Supervisor Clayton Engleman says the team’s quick actions were instrumental in ensuring the man’s survival “Their valorous actions are commendable and a reminder that any one of us may be asked to help another in distress at any time, and with guys like Cody and Joel around, that help is always right around the corner.”