LYNCHBURG, Va. – Three local heroes — all with a different story of going above and beyond.
Kimberly Cash is a communications specialist for emergency services in Lynchburg. She was one of the three honored Thursday for her service by the Optimist Club.
“It was a very surreal moment,” Cash said.
Cash was recognized for her work dispatching and informing first responders during a malicious wounding in November.
“My mind was going a million miles an hour,” she said.
Her supervisor said Cash worked exceptionally fast to get officers to the scene.
“You really don’t stay calm. We always, if it’s a hard call we talk about it after. So that’s really our downtime moment, but during it, you just try to think of as best outcome as what’s possible,” she said.
Officer Kylee Hendrix was honored for helping someone escape domestic abuse.
“I’m very lucky that I was able to respond out there and be a help to a victim,” Hendrix said.
The victim was hesitant to speak, or press charges at first, but Hendrix took time, even when she wasn’t supposed to be working, to make the victim feel seen.
“At the end of the day, police officers are people, firefighters are people, communications specialists are people. If you treat people the way you want to be treated, you try to communicate with them, try to see how they’re feeling, and try to give them the best advice,” Hendrix said.
Firefighter James Marston didn’t want to go on camera, but was honored for his work helping with the mental health of firefighters.