Community Hero Awards given to Bullard teens

TYLER – Six people from Bullard, including four teenagers, were awarded during the Smith County Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday with Community Hero Awards for their efforts in saving a woman after her car crashed into a pond in March. “This court rarely gives out a Community Hero Award and we feel like it is very fitting for these six people that went beyond their character and went beyond what is expected of them and saved the life of another human,” Commissioner Pam Frederick said. According to our news partner KETK, Derek and Drue Bowers, their father Troy Bowers, teenagers Sheane Congo and Kyle Schneider and neighbor David Isabell jumped into the water after seeing the woman’s car upside down in the pond.

They assisted in pulling the woman out of the 40 degree water. “I jumped in the water and tried opening the door, but the doors were obviously locked and the handles were broken, so we decided to turn the car on its side to hopefully get a better angle from it,” high school junior Derek Bowers said. Bullard Fire Chief Peter Riley, who wrote a recommendation letter to the court, was in attendance with them at commissioner’s court along with other representatives of Bullard Fire and Bullard ISD.