Myakka City man who saved teen from burning truck named Carnegie Hero
MANATEE -- The Myakka City man who pulled an Arcadia teenager from a burning vehicle last April will be honored with a Carnegie Hero medal.
Levi Parker Teuton, severely burned while saving a 15-year-old Chicago A. Gainer April 5, 2015, from a burning Dodge Ram, is one of 24 people honored this year by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, which recognizes civilians who perform acts of heroism in the United States and Canada.
"The medal is given to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others," the commission wrote in its official announcement. "Three of the awardees died in the performance of their heroic acts."
Teuton and his family were returning from a camping trip Easter Sunday when they saw black smoke on State Road 70.
Doug Dewell, an information technology computer professional from Tampa who stopped to help, told the Bradenton Herald he and Teuton couldn't open the Dodge Ram's door to pull the teenager out. Flames roared through the cab windows.
"The boy inside was telling us he was pinned and was begging for someone to get him out," Dewell said.
Dewell said he ran back to his vehicle to search for anything to pour on the teen to keep him from burning. When he turned around, the Arcadia teenager was already laying next to his father.
"Levi pulled a really heroic stunt because I don't know how he did it," Dewell said at the time.
The driver, 55-year-old Wilfred Calvin Jones, died.
Support poured in for Teuton after the incident, and he was honored Nov. 3, 2015, with a proclamation during a Manatee County Commission meeting. Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who represents Myakka City, read the proclamation designating Levi Parker Teuton Day.
"I believe it was a miracle that day and I was brought there to save him and I was just a tool," Teuton said at the time.
"It's an amazing award. I don't deserve all this. ... I was just doing what I would want someone to do for me and my family and do what God called me to do."
Beside Teuton, the other Florida natives being honored with a Carnegie Medal are Gary E. Richie of Cocoa and Jacob Daniel Richie of Palm Bay, a father-son duo who rescued occupants of a minivan from an assault in late January 2015.
Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.
Amaris Castillo, law enforcement/island reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7051. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisCastillo.
This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Myakka City man who saved teen from burning truck named Carnegie Hero ."