A Good Samaritan is someone who is compassionate and helpful to a person in distress.

On Friday, the Ward County Sheriff’s Department honored three Good Samaritans – Kristopher Trone, Woody Waldez-Perez and Ryan Fontaine. They helped save the lives of others when they came upon emergency situations.

Individuals like these put their own safety at risk to help others.

Valdez-Perez and Fontaine stopped along U.S. Highway 83, north of Max, when they came upon an ambulance that had gone off the ice-covered highway and plunged into the icy waters of a slough near midnight this past Thanksgiving Day. Ambulance personnel were able to get out of the vehicle but patient Dolores Paulson of Williston was trapped in the back of the submerged vehicle. Valdez-Perez, who arrived on the scene first, contacted authorities, provided a tow rope and helped Fontaine and Hasan Abdual-Jabbar, ambulance crew member, when they swam out to the ambulance to get Paulson and to bring her ashore. Abdual-Jabbar was also praised for his actions during the ceremony on Friday.

Another Good Samaritan, Trone was traveling on N.D. Highway 23 this past October when he came upon an accident in which a mother and three children were trapped in a car. Trone was able to free the three children from their child safety seats and move them to safety. The mother could not be safely removed from the vehicle but Trone stayed by her side until emergency personnel arrived.

Heroes like these responded to an emergency situation and did what they could to help others.

Thank you to each of them.