[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HEATHER HAGAN--AMERICAN HERO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PHIL ENGLISH

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 20, 2001

  Mr. ENGLISH. Mr. Speaker, in a time of crisis, many of us choose not 
to get involved. Mr. Speaker, we've all read the newspaper headlines 
when someone has witnessed a crime or even saw someone get injured and 
they chose not to get involved because they didn't want to complicate 
their lives.
  Today, I rise to pay tribute to someone who acted differently, 
bravely. Heather Hagan personifies a hero's life. She chose to get 
involved and in the end saved a woman's life. At 15 years old, Heather 
showed incredible intuition, caring, and determination for one so 
young.
  On March 12, as she was doing her daily rounds delivering The Herald 
to her customers on her paper route, she noticed something different at 
the home of Josephine McCutcheon. The newspapers were piled up against 
the door, unclaimed for several days. Additionally, Heather realized 
she had not seen the 81-year-old woman in days.
  Heather completed her route. She thought about how odd it was that 
Mrs. McCutcheon had not picked up her newspaper or even stopped 
delivery if she was going out of town. Worried, she called the elderly 
woman's house but the line was busy.
  Heather chose not to let it end there. She knew something was not 
right so she returned to the home of the former Mercer councilwoman and 
county commissioner. There was no response when she knocked at the 
door. Sensing something was wrong, Heather contacted the local 
authorities, who found Mrs. McCutcheon lying on the floor of the house 
after a fall, unable to summon help.
  Mr. Speaker, in a time when the news is full of stories of 
insensitive and selfish people, they have not been introduced to teens 
such as Heather Hagan. She broke the mold. She gives me hope for the 
coming generations.
  The easy thing to do would've been for Heather to do her job and 
leave it at that. But she, in the immortal words of Robert Frost, took 
the road less traveled by, going out of her way, having a dramatic 
impact on someone's life. I would like to say thank you to Heather--she 
is truly a treasure to our community.

                          ____________________