Ryan Campbell
Rock Eulo
Capt. Hank Smith
Zach Gilreath
Cleveland 100, a non-profit organization that lends support to Cleveland and Bradley County first responders, held their annual meeting and awards night on Tuesday.
Over 100 first responders received awards for dedicated professional achievements this past year.
Four awards, representing three agencies, were given the Cleveland 100 highest award. The award is named after the late AFT Agent Courtney McGrady and his wife Betty. The two, along with Cleveland Mayor Emeritus Tom Rowland and wife Sandra, were founders of the organization in 1996.
Cleveland 100 mission is to provide immediate financial assistance to the family of any Cleveland/Bradley County first responder who may lose their lives in the line of duty. Since its inception in 1996, the organization has gone to the aid of three families who suffered loss: Bradley County Firefighter Sgt. Scott Berry who died in 1997; Cleveland Police Department Lt. Ken Simpson, who died in 2008 and Cleveland Police Officer Justin Maples, who died in 2012.
This year’s Courtney and Betty McGrady Award recipients were:
Bradley County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Campbell for his single-handed rescue of a man from a fiery vehicle crash earlier this year. Deputy Campbell climbed a barbed wire fence and pulled the driver through a window to safety, all while the car was in flames.
Cleveland Firefighter Battalion Chief Rock Eulo, who went into a business and pulled an unresponsive occupant to safety, saving his life.
Third went to two Bradley County Fire & Rescue personnel who went into a burning home and pulled an unresponsive female form the house. Capt. Hank Smith and Firefighter Zach Gilreath were given the award. The home fire story has gone statewide in a campaign for “closed door safety” and the firefighters who saved her life were honored earlier this week in Nashville by Governor Bill Lee.