A pair of Bradford boys are being hailed as heroes for their quick, life-saving actions.
Around 5 p.m. on Saturday, 13-year-old Wyatt Bond and 12-year-old Brayden Frair were near a creek in the area of Boser and Babcock Roads when 73-year-old Richard Gilbert fell from a 10-foot embankment and onto a large rock. Bond and Frair gave Gilbert medical attention as they applied pressure to the laceration and called 911, Foster Township Police Chief Thomas Munn told The Era.
“It was exceptional. The boys seemed to keep their cool and did the right thing,” Munn said, praising the boys. “That’d be a big fall for anybody, let alone someone (Gilbert’s) age.”
He added the laceration on Gilbert’s head was pretty severe.
“In the world we live in today, we hear of a lot of the bad. But there is good out there too, and we thought it was appropriate to recognize them because they certainly deserve it,” said Munn.
To many kids in the area, Gilbert is a familiar face –– as he is a school bus operator for the Bradford Area School District. His son, Mike, gave The Era an update on his father’s condition and said had it not been for the actions of Bond and Frair, “God knows what could have happened.”
“He is currently in Hamot Medical Center. He has 12 staples in his head, he has a broken scapula, he has three cracked ribs, two transverse fractures in his back, a sprained right wrist and subdural hematoma in his head,” the son said, explaining the severity of injuries his father suffered.
“He’s alert, he’s talking and knows who everybody is, but he’s in a lot of pain. He’s got a long road of recovery ahead of him,” Mike added. “He’s very thankful for the boys also, and he wants to meet them.”
Mike held back no gratitude for the courageous actions. He said, “As far as I’m concerned, those two boys are heroes for what they did for my dad. They saved my dad’s life. God knows what could have happened; my dad could have died there.”
He said Bond and Frair were “a godsend” and said they deserve “all the recognition in the world for it.”
Frair said when he first saw Gilbert, he looked like he was in a lot of pain.
“He was telling us not to call 911 but we did it anyways,” he said, adding there was a significant amount of bleeding from the laceration.
When asked what it meant to be called a hero, he said, “It really means a lot that people think that highly of me.”
Despite the recognition, Frair doesn’t see himself as a hero. He said, “I just think I was there at the right time. The doctors and nurses helping him are the real heroes.”
Bond also noted the severe bleeding when the boys came across Gilbert.
“We were walking up the creek and we saw the blood coming down his head,” he said.
“It makes me feel really good inside that I did something like that,” Bond added, explaining how it felt to be called a hero.
Frair’s mother, Bethany, is also hailing the boys as heroes. She said she couldn’t be more proud of the boys for their actions.
“I’m a very proud mom,” she said. “I’m just thankful they were there.”
Bond’s mother, Jamie, said her son had taken his hoodie off and wrapped it around Gilbert’s head to help stop the bleeding.
“I’m definitely very proud, my heart is very happy. They did a wonderful job and they’re amazing kids. I’m very proud of them,” she said.
