ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - The Red Cross held an awards ceremony Tuesday to honor southwest Virginians who have made a significant difference in their community.
WSLS 10 helped highlight each Red Cross Hero during the month of March and anchor Lindsey Ward hosted Tuesday's event as each took the stage to accept the honors.
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For the first year, the Red Cross Celebration of Heroes welcomed a keynote speaker to the event. Dave Sanderson survived the flight known to many as 'miracle on the Hudson' and he shared his amazing story of survival with the audience.
Sanderson was on flight 1549 that miraculously landed on the Hudson River in 2009. Sanderson risked his own life that day to help others on the plane.
"All these things you learn all your life, your training that you have, all of a sudden comes together at that one moment and you know instantly that you have a reason and you have to start using what you've learned to help other people," Sanderson explained.
"There was this theme that ran through the entire event this year and that was like creating hope. There was this idea I think of people drawing their hope from their faith, finding the strength and the courage to do some pretty amazing things," Lee Clark, Red Cross CEO said.