February 4, 2009
News 12 at 6 o'clock

MONTMORENCI, SC--- This month's Time to Care award winner is really a salute to the men and women who are out there right now just waiting to save your life. Usually we don't even think about them until we need them or until a family stops to say thanks.

It was a cold December night and Chris Fosterling was riding down a quiet country road. He was looking to make sure the few homes out here are marked clearly for the next 911 call, when he heard something.

"I heard a sound," Chris said. "I turned the radio down just in time to hear the sound of a car that seemed to be out of control then a big bang after that."

But finding the source of sound wasn't easy. Not only was it dark, but pine branches were hiding the wreckage.

"There were a lot of trees. I had to make sure there were no power lines. I could hear Cameron out there who absolutely needed my help."

He's talking about 17 year old Cameron Chapman. What Chris found under all those limbs was a pick up truck and a badly injured teenager.

"There seemed to be a lot of blood," Chris said.

Cameron was in bad shape. Here's how he describes his own injuries.

"I almost bit my tongue off, broke my femur bone above the knee, chopped a piece of my lip off and broke my jaw," Cameron said.

Cameron doesn't remember much about that night- but his mother Jeannie will never forget what she saw.

"He looked bad. Tubes, wires, he didn't look good at all," his mother told us.

As for Chris, he knows it was a close call. What if he had not heard that crash in the night?

"I'm afraid to say he might not have made it. It was cold out there and he was going into shock already."

"But he wasn't alone, he had Chris with him the whole time," Jeannie added.

Cameron knows he's a lucky teenager.

"It was a miracle I survived. He (Chris) was at the right place at the right time and God was with us all the way."

Chris will tell you he was just doing his job that night. Just like all the other volunteers at the Montmorenci, S.C. fire department. That's right, he's not even paid to do what he does. And Jeannie wanted to say a special thanks to the Aiken County EMS for getting her son out of there fast.

And of course we want to thank our Time to Care partners who make this award possible. Subway, The Taylor Auto Group and Troy University.

If you would like to nominate someone you can do that right here at wrdw.com.