First responders from various Clarendon County agencies were honored at the South Carolina State House last week for saving the life of an 7-year-old boy injured in a terrible wreck that killed the boy's 12-year-old brother.
"They work really hard and probably saved that little boy's life," said Rep. Robert Ridgeway, who introduced the resolution honoring the Clarendon County Fire Department and Clarendon County EMS in April to the General Assembly. Though passed that same month, the resolution was not read into the record until the first responders could be present May 11 at the State House.
"I think it was a very nice presentation," said Clarendon Fire Chief Frances Richbourg. "We had a good representation of the different agencies who helped in this incident and from the family members that were there. I think our representative did an excellent job with that."
In making the presentation, Ridgeway also honored 7-year-old Christopher Sumpter Jr. of Sumter for "bravery shown in the face of adversity."
"The members of the South Carolina General Assembly applaud Christopher's fortitude and strength of character during that trying time and wish him much success and happiness as he grows into adulthood," reads the resolution for the boy, who is a first-grade student at Manchester Elementary School in Pinewood.
The boy was riding March 5 in a 1997 Toyota with 32-year-old Randy Lewis and his 12-year-old brother, Rosheed Goodwin, along with three other passengers, when it was struck by a 2005 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by 68-year-old Charles Jones. The Toyota then ran off the right side of the road and hit a ditch.
Clarendon County Deputy Coroner Bucky Mock said Rosheed died at the scene of the wreck. Lewis, Jones, Christopher and two other of Lewis' passengers were airlifted to Palmetto Health Richland.
"He had serious, life-threatening injuries that required him to be helicoptered to Richland," said Ridgeway, declining to discuss Christopher's injuries in detail due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
"We invited everyone who went and responded to that wreck from the Clarendon County Fire Department, EMS and there was a Sumter County EMS unit as well, along with Christopher's family," Ridgeway added. "This was to recognize our first responders' bravery as well as the little boy's. He had to endure so much more than a child his age should have to endure."
READ THE RESOLUTION AT THIS LINK
