Pubdate: Mon, 09 Oct 2006
Source: Tartan, The (PA EDU)
Copyright: 2006 The Tartan Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.thetartan.org/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2642
Author: Rachita Chandra

STUDENT RECOGNIZED FOR HEROISM

Benjamin Saks had a rocky month last February. The  architecture 
fourth-year's car broke down, two of his  tires were slashed, and he 
was shot in the hand after  helping a police officer arrest a criminal.

"What's worse was that my architecture project deadline  was very 
close," he said.

Such is the life of a hero.

Saks was granted this title, along with a bronze medal  and a $4000 
grant, by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission  on September 28. The 
organization, which has no ties  with Carnegie Mellon University, is 
a 21-member  commission in Pittsburgh dedicated to honoring 
people  who perform acts of heroism in the United States and  Canada. 
They also provide financial assistance for  those disabled and the 
dependents of those killed  helping others.

"I'm very excited and honored," Saks said. "Honestly, I  don't really 
think that I'm a hero. I only did what I  thought was right and I 
hope that others would do so  too."

For Saks, last February 25 started like a normal day.  As a huge 
basketball fan, he decided to go to the  Carnegie Mellon basketball 
game. He was all set to  leave and was waiting for his roommate, 
fellow  architecture fourth-year Jared Langevin, who was eating  a 
sandwich in the kitchen. Saks headed toward his  backyard.

Gazing outside his backyard, Saks' eye caught a police  officer 
struggling with a person on the street. He  instinctively approached 
the officer and asked whether  he needed help. Little did Saks know 
that the person  the officer was struggling with was a fleeing drug 
dealer, Omar Pagan, who had escaped from Miami.

Pagan, the police officer, and Saks were the only three  people in 
the street. The officer's backup radio didn't  work. Without thinking 
twice, Saks rushed to help the  officer. He grabbed the suspect's 
legs and helped hold  him down.

"Unfortunately, in the brawl for the officer's handgun,  the suspect 
managed to get hold of the officer's  handgun," he said. "Before we 
knew, the suspect pulled  the trigger and the bullet went straight 
through the  holster and to my left hand.

"I was really incredibly lucky" it could have been  much worse. If 
the bullet was even a millimeter closer,  the doctors say that I 
could have lost three of my left  hand's fingers. I try not thinking 
of what could have  happened."

The suspect was finally arrested on the arrival of two  other police officers.

Following this, an ambulance rushed Saks to the  hospital, where he 
received 30 stitches.

"It wasn't until after the encounter that my hand  really began to 
hurt," he said. "Even weeks later, it  was pretty bad. I had to clean 
the wound every day and  it became really hard to sleep. I remember 
having a  trail of thoughts of the gun's trigger being suspended  and 
a chill running through my spine."

Brushing off the pain in his hand, he finished the  looming 
architecture project, winning an honorable  mention award for his 
work. "Despite all this, the most  fulfilling feeling comes in 
knowing that the drug  dealer won't be selling heroin anymore and 
that by helping the policeman, not only did I save the cop's  life, 
but also the life of all those that would be  consuming those drugs," he said.

So Would He Do It Again?

"If somebody needs help, I'm definitely going to be  there for them," 
he said. "Though I would try not  getting shot next time. I'm not the 
type of person that  would turn their back on a person at a trying time."

Saks said the encounter has given him an appreciation  of actions and 
their consequences.

"I value life much more," he said. "I admire those  people on duty 
who are willing to put their life at  stake to protect others to a 
much greater extent."

When he's not helping police officers, Saks spends his  time modeling 
projects for architecture, relaxing with  friends, going fishing and 
camping, and playing bass  guitar.

"It was the fact that I really wanted to play my bass  guitar that 
motivated me to recover faster," he said.  "In fact, I even turned 
down the hospital's offer of  providing me with physical therapy 
because playing the  bass guitar was my real physical therapy." As 
for the  $4000 and medal that he received from the Carnegie 
Hero  Fund, he said he would put the money in his savings or  "make a 
necklace of the medal and show it off."

"I'm currently single, so I wouldn't mind spending the  money on someone."

He considered donating the money, but reasoned that  since the grant 
itself was a donation, "the purpose of  the award would be defeated 
if [he] donated it."

Does this hero plan to join the FBI after tackling  crime? "If the 
FBI needs any architects, I'm ready to  build the world."
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