Myers and his girlfriend, Annie Banis, were driving back after a concert when their car was struck on the driver’s side where Myers was, leaving him unresponsive at the scene, which was outside of Germantown. He was transported by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital, where he underwent an emergency surgery and was in a coma for about 10 days.
“He was crushed in the car,” said his grandfather, Donald Myers.
Myers spent 24 days at Miami Valley Hospital, inpatient rehab at The Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio and outpatient therapy at Miami Valley Hospital North. He suffered a fractured pelvis and other injuries. Banis suffered head and back injuries, but Myers absorbed the worst of the crash.
“My wife stayed with him the entire time,” Donald Myers said.
Kevin Pleiman, another one of the honorees, suffered severe burns from a fire on a bridge on his 80-acre property outside of Houston in Shelby County on Dec. 16, 2023. In the process of him burning the old bridge, there was an explosion, and the bucket of paint thinner Pleiman was holding caught on fire.
“I remember being on fire, trying to get the fire out,” Pleiman said.
He was eventually able to put the fire out, and then his nephew, who happened to be nearby, called for help.
“He heard me yelling for help,” Pleiman said.
Houston Rescue and CareFlight responded, with the latter transporting Pleiman to Miami Valley Hospital’s Level I Trauma and Burn Center. He spent the next 98 days, including two weeks of being on a ventilator, being cared for by Dr. Michael Johnson, along with both the trauma and burn team.
“They’re the heroes,” Pleiman said about his care teams.
“It’s fantastic,” one of his nurses, Jennifer MacDonald, said. “This is why we do what we do.”
Other honorees included Solomon Kessio, who was in training with the Dayton Police Academy when he was hit on the highway on Oct. 5, 2023. Kessio suffered a skull fracture and three broken ribs in the crash that took place on state Route 4 between the exits for Stanley Avenue and Harshman Road.
Bystanders started CPR, and called for the help of Dayton Fire Department. Due to the severity of Kessio’s injuries, he was transported to Miami Valley Hospital’s Level I Trauma Center.
A Reichard Buick GMC pickup truck hit a marked cruiser parked on the shoulder of the road. Kessio was standing between the cruiser and a guardrail when the 2017 GMC Sierra struck the cruiser, a 2020 Dodge Durango, while the other three were inside, according to the crash report.
After 19 days at Miami Valley Hospital, Kessio left to continue his recovery at an inpatient rehab facility.
The other two honorees were Alviana Rodriguez and Madison Sieferid.
Rodriguez was on her way to pick up a friend from work in April 2023 when she lost control of her car and hit a tree. Trotwood Fire Department responded to the scene and transported her to Miami Valley Hospital, where she was later treated by Dr. Jason Miner and the trauma team.
Sieferid was on the way to a festival in October 2023 with a friend when a car ran a stop sign and t-boned the car she was in. Pike Township EMS responded, and CareFlight later responded to transport Sieferid to Miami Valley Hospital’s Level I Trauma Center, where she was treated by Dr. John Bruun and the trauma team.
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