[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        CELEBRATING IDAHO HEROES

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I rise to recognize Ms. Tina Taysom and Mr. 
Greg Cannell of American Falls, ID, for their heroic actions in saving 
the life of a rural mail carrier who skidded off a winding mountain 
road and into a nearby river in Idaho.
  On December 1, 2003, Ron Meadville, a rural mail carrier, was 
returning from his 110-mile route along the remote North Fork road 
northwest of Salmon, ID. Friends Tina Taysom and Greg Cannell were 
traveling ahead of Meadville on the same road. They pulled over to look 
at some deer, and Meadville passed them. When they pulled back on the 
road and rounded a bend, they couldn't see the mail truck but saw a set 
of skid marks that veered off the road, toward the near-frozen river. 
Meadville had hit a patch of ice that sent his truck hurtling over the 
25-foot embankment to land upside down in the Salmon River, in more 
than 5 feet of 33-degree water.
  Greg Cannell and Tina Taysom acted immediately. They stopped their 
truck, jumped out, slid down the steep embankment, and plunged into the 
river. After several strenuous attempts, they were able to pull open 
the truck door, grab Meadville's hand, and pull him out through an 
opening between the seat and the doorjamb. By this time, Meadville was 
experiencing hypothermia. Taysom and Cannell pulled Meadville up the 
embankment to their vehicle. Meadville managed to tell them he lived 
about a mile away, and they took him to his home, where they helped 
Meadville's wife care for him. They refused any care for themselves 
until they knew Meadville was safe.
  Greg Cannell and Tina Taysom put themselves in harm's way to save a 
stranger. They refuse to be called heroes, but they are truly heroes to 
Ron Meadville and his family. Without their courageous actions, Ron 
Meadville would not be alive today. Their actions truly were heroic, 
and it is a pleasure for me to honor them and share their story.

                          ____________________