The American Red Cross South Central Pennsylvania Chapter, which covers Adams, Franklin, Fulton, and York Counties, honored 16 people with nine different awards during the 14th Annual Spirit of the Hero Award Breakfast held at the Wyndham Garden York Hotel on Thursday, November 17, 2016. Recipients were honored for their heroic and, or selfless acts that improve our communities and show all of us that not all heroes wear capes.
Community Impact Award:
How many times while driving have you witnessed other drivers playing on their mobile devices?
How often have you, yourself, looked away from the road to check a text, an email, or to take a selfie? After losing close friends in a horrific head-on collision that took the lives of five young adults, New Oxford High School senior Michael Ryan decided he wanted to do something to honor the memory of his friends and protect others from suffering the same fate. Realizing that distracted driving was becoming a major problem and a common cause of fatal automobile accidents, Ryan took $10,000 he had set aside to purchase his first car and instead purchased the software he needed to create a mobile app designed to block incoming notifications whenever a vehicle reaches a speed greater than 20 mph.
Ryan put the safety of others above his own materialistic desires and, in the process, set the stage to make our roads a safer place for all.
Recipient:
Michael Ryan
Nominator:
State Senator Richard Alloway
Presenters:
Crawford McFerron (BB&T)
Paul Rudy (Graham Capital)
Source: American Red Cross South Central Pennsylvania
