Eighth-grader earns honors for aiding girl attacked by fox
A young neighbor screamed, alerting Ricky M. Howard to trouble, so he and his family’s dog ran to find the little girl being attacked by a fox that later tested positive for rabies.
Since the rescue last month, Ricky had seven rabies shots to prevent him from contracting the virus – almost always fatal – that attacks the nervous system. He was honored for his bravery Thursday at a meeting of the Washington County commissioners.
“I was already outside,” said Ricky, a resident of Lacock Street in Canton Township. “The first thing that came to my mind was the girl. I wasn’t worried about anything else.”
Ricky, 13, attended the meeting wearing the uniform of the Young Marines youth organization, of which he is a member. He is an eighth-grader at Trinity Middle School, and he said he’s looking forward to enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Commission Chairman Larry Maggi, a Marine Corps veteran, read into the record a congratulatory certificate that sounded like a military commendation, noting Ricky acted “with total disregard for his own safety. He jumped right in, I understand, and took action. He literally went in with bare hands, bare arms, and chased the fox away. (Then) the fox went after him.”
Maggi said Ricky “secured appropriate equipment and neutralized the fox.”
Keith Hagan, Young Marines unit commander who also is a police officer in Baldwin Borough, Allegheny County, said of Ricky, “We’re very proud of him,” and also thanked Jack Rhoades and his wife, Drema, Ricky’s stepfather and mother.
“He’s always been an impressive individual, but I’m probably biased,” said Joe Hatcher of the Beaver Falls area, Ricky’s grandfather, who attended the meeting along with Donald Bailey, Young Marines executive officer.
Ricky is not the first local Young Marine who has saved someone in danger. Members of the organization, who range in age from 8 to 18, are certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid. “They don’t run away from emergencies,” Hagan said.
Like her rescuer, the girl also had rabies shots.
Domino, a Siberian husky, was not present at Courthouse Square. Due to his quarantine, he is not to leave the yard of his home for six months. Jack Rhoades said the dog had been previously vaccinated, but lacked paperwork.