WS Chronicle

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Winston-Salem Police Officer Travis McFadden, a school resource officer for the Kingswood School at the Children’s Home, will receive the 2016 Hank Snyder “Beyond the Call of Duty” award from the N.C. Association of School Resource Officers for his actions in rescuing a toddler from a crashed automobile.

McFadden will be presented the award on July 11 during the Association’s annual convention at Sunset Beach, N.C.

The Hank Snyder “Beyond the Call of Duty” award honors a school resource officer who goes above and beyond the call of his or her everyday duties.

The award is named in honor of Hank Snyder, a retired instructor at the N.C. Justice Academy.

On the morning of Oct. 21, 2015, McFadden was traveling on Northwest Boulevard on his way to Kingswood School at the Children’s Home, where he serves as the school resource officer, when he saw that a car had run off the road.

The vehicle was suspended in mid-air straddling the entrance to a pedestrian tunnel that passes under Northwest Boulevard. The transmission was still engaged and the wheels were turning, making the position of the vehicle very unstable. The driver had gotten out, but a 2-year-old child was still inside, fastened in a car seat.

McFadden determined that the child might be killed or suffer a serious injury if the unstable vehicle shifted and fell into the tunnel entrance, about 10 feet down.  McFadden climbed into the suspended vehicle through the back door and removed the child, who was not injured.

McFadden later received the Police Department’s Medal of Merit for his actions.