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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate Odin Firefighter
4Christopher Pratt on receiving the Medal of Honor, the highest
5award given to firefighters by the State of Illinois; and
 
6    WHEREAS, He was one of 4 firefighters to receive the award
7on May 10, 2012, during the 19th annual Illinois Fallen
8Firefighters Memorial and Firefighting Medal of Honors
9Ceremony in Springfield; and
 
10    WHEREAS, He was presented the award for his actions last
11December in the dramatic rescue of a 4-year-old boy from a
12burning car; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Kerri Anne Hall was taking her son, Jace
14Westbrook, to daycare when her 2005 Nissan Pathfinder skidded
15on wet pavement, hit a culvert, went airborne, crashed into a
16tree, and burst into flames; Christopher was on his way to work
17as the manager of New Metal Fabricators in Centralia when he
18drove up on the wreck; and
 
19    WHEREAS, He had no firefighting gear with him, but preceded
20to break out a side window on the car and attempted to grab
21young Jace; the buckle on the child restraint seat was melted

 

 

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1and would not release so he used a razor knife to cut the
2safety belt and pulled the boy to safety; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The legs of the child's pajama bottoms were on
4fire, so he patted out the flames and went back to rescue the
5mother; unfortunately, the gas tank exploded, preventing her
6rescue; Jace has since recovered from burns to 25% of his body;
7Firefighter Pratt sustained second-degree burns to his hands
8and lost a patch of hair from his head; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11we congratulate Firefighter Christopher Pratt on receiving the
12Medal of Honor, and thank him for his courage in saving a life;
13and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15presented to Firefighter Christopher Pratt as a symbol of our
16respect and esteem.