What do you do when your 13 year old daughter has been reading newspapers since she was four years old, and now begins wading into your medical journals?

LaVonne Lewis has just discovered that there are risks in letting a young mind wander unfettered though such grown up terrain.

On October 8, Lewis (a registered critical care nurse with a doctorate in psychology who has lived in Pine Mountain for over two decades) received a phone call from a representative of the Nurse Week and Nursing Spectrum publications of the Gannett Healthcare Group, based in Illinois.

"Congratulations," the caller said, identifying herself as Cynthia Vlasich, vice president of Professional Services for the publisher. "You have been named a National Nurse Hero."

Lewis decided Vlasich was part of a new con game scheme. She began to riddle the caller with questions: "Do you have the nomination in front of you? Who nominated me? What were the parameters?"

"I needed a lot of proof, so she gave it to me," Lewis said, "I never considered myself a hero, let alone a national hero."

Within hours she discovered that her daughter, Elizabeth "Happy" Lewis had discovered the nomination form in her mother’s nursing magazines, then conspired with others to secretly nominate her mother for the award.

Happy had seen her mother in action on a snow-slicked Mil Potrero Highway roadside accident scene a year ago. Kern County Fire Department personnel were in on the surprise.

Captain Mark Vodon of KCFD included this letter in the nomination packet:

"LaVonne L. Lewis is an indispensable asset to the mountain community of Pine Mountain, California. She tirelessly volunteered for over 10 years as a volunteer firefighter.

"When she moved into this community, it was a one-man fire station and the firemen were not EMT-trained. LaVonne came to the fire department and volunteered her services. She received a pager and at all hours of the day and night she would respond to all medical calls.

"Some of these calls involved gun shot wounds for which we had no equipment, so she used sticks from the forest to make a tourniquet. Her courage and calmness during such a medical crisis was impressive. Another time she singlehandedly performed CPR for two and a half hours until a medical helicopter could arrive to transport the victim to a hospital. Following that incident, she taught over 200 community members CPR.

"The life-threatening medical emergencies she has responded to are too many to mention. LaVonne never hesitated for one moment to save a life, sometimes with her own safety in jeopardy. She has become known as the angel of the mountain. She has never sought recognition for her heroism. LaVonne has always just wanted to be there to use her ‘God given talents’ to save a life whenever possible. She continues to stop at every car wreck she comes upon, as she did on that snowy morning to which this nomination refers. LaVonne continues to give medical attention whenever or wherever duty calls.

"I highly recommend LaVonne Lewis for this honor and recognition, as she is a true life-saver. Many people on this mountain would not be alive today had it not been for her medical knowledge and her selfless heroism."

This history comes at a time when Pine Mountain residents are still seeking ways to secure more reliable and timely emergency medical support  for an area which is an hour away from the nearest hospital.

In a telephone interview shortly after Vlasich’s congratulatory announcement, Lewis was still stunned. "My family kept this entire thing a secret from me. I didn’t even know such an award was given," she said. "You just never know what Happy is going to do. She apparently saw the nomination article in one of my medical journals and went to work. I am now hiding everything that comes with my name on it. She just reads way too much!"

Along with the award comes a trip to Baltimore, Maryland and a stay at a luxury hotel for the awards luncheon. Happy, of course, gets to go along. The family plans to take a side trip to Washington, D.C.

This is part of the November 02, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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