F EATURED S TORY

Hani Ammar wasn’t planning to save anyone’s life on Saturday, June 11, but that’s what happened when he came across a disabled car that caught fire on the side of a major freeway in Columbus, Ohio.

His actions earned him the Chair’s Lifesaving Award, which Nick Akins, chair and chief executive officer of AEP, gave to Ammar last week.

Ammar, a security technical specialist, spotted a man sitting beside a burning car and said the man appeared disoriented and was wearing a medical information bracelet.

“The man had already exited the vehicle on his own but was sitting on the ground next to it, leaning on the driver side door,” Ammar said. “I dragged him a safe distance away from the car since it was on fire, and he was seemingly unaware and unresponsive to that fact when I pointed it out to him.”

The man told Ammar that someone else was in the car, so Ammar went back to the burning vehicle and checked for other passengers but didn’t find any. The man was confused and even tried to run away into traffic before authorities arrived to help. The fire spread from underneath the car and in just a few minutes engulfed the vehicle. Ammar said a tire exploded and the glass in the windows shattered from the heat while he tried to keep the driver safe.

“It was scary,” Ammar said. “He kept wanting to run into traffic.”

“I nominated Hani because of his strong sense of community and willingness to help anyone he sees in need,” said Sean Parcel, director, Cyber Intel and Defense. “This was unique in that Hani came across a situation where there was an immediate physical harm event unfolding and someone could have potentially died if he did not intervene.”