Florida recruiter takes on hero role Published Aug. 22, 2007 By Chet R. DelSignore Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs Orlando, Fla. (AFRS) -- Senior Airman Michael Huesca, an Air Force Recruiter, recently became a true hero when he risked his own life to save another caught up in a horrific multi-car accident outside of Orlando, Fla. As Airman Huesca drove to interview an applicant, he noticed a silver car suddenly cross the median of the busy six-lane John Young Parkway and head into on-coming traffic. The accident unfolded right before Airman Huesca's eyes as the car slammed head-on into a pickup truck just ahead of him. The violent impact jettisoned a wheel from the small car, hitting his government vehicle. He immediately pulled over, called 911 and began running to render aid to the passenger in the small car. The Airman found a male in the driver's seat displaying no signs of life. Then Airman Huesca heard someone call him over to the truck. It was an off-duty paramedic who also stopped to help. The male and female passengers of the truck had been removed to a grassy area on the side of the road where Airman Huesca proceeded to care for the male driver of the pickup. "I knelt down next to him and carefully held his head at a slight elevation to keep his airway open and placed my other hand on his chest to monitor his breathing," Huesca said. "I talked to him to help keep him from going into shock, but he kept drifting in and out of consciousness so I would shout at him to keep him awake and tell him to hang in there." Airman Huesca's primary thought was to keep the victim alive and awake, which he did until paramedics arrived on scene to transport the injured to an area hospital. The driver of the silver car was flown by air-ambulance helicopter to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival, the airman learned from the local evening news. Without Airman Huesca's help, the driver of the pickup truck might have suffered the same fate as the automobile driver who caused the unfortunate chain of events. Before Airman Huesca finished telling his wife how his day unfolded that evening, she began to cry, realizing that if the small car had been one second later, it would have run head-on into her husband. "This experience has heightened my awareness of my surroundings all the time, for sure," said Airman Huesca. "You learn how to pay better attention to everything and also to live every day to the fullest. You never know when something could change your life in a second." Airman Huesca's squadron commander, Lt. Col. Michael J. Tillema, has nominated him for the award of the Airman's Medal. "Airman Huesca is a superstar," Colonel Tillema said, "and it comes as no surprise that this warrior unhesitatingly came to the aid of his fellow man. His performance and professionalism since his arrival in our unit has been absolutely outstanding!" Airman Huesca is an enlisted accessions recruiter assigned to E-flight at the 333rd Recruiting Squadron, Orlando, Fla. Previously, he worked as a security forces specialist at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.