Hero Needs A Reminder

I’ve heard of humble heroes, but Mark Woodrow is in an unassuming class of his own.

The Spokane man recently received a letter telling him he would be honored today for his role as a lifesaver.

Woodrow reread the invitation a couple of times. He scratched his head and dialed the telephone number on the page to ask what the heck was going on.

“I had pretty much forgotten about it,” says Woodrow, 42, adding an embarrassed laugh. “I didn’t even know what it was about.”

It seems impossible he could ever forget the gut-tightening moment of truth last Sept. 9.

With his beefy left arm, the Washington Water Power Co. employee grabbed onto a suicidal Russian immigrant just as the distraught man tried to leap to a rocky doom off the narrow railing of Nine Mile Falls dam. Woodrow needed every ounce of strength he developed from years of power lifting to pull the man to safety.

Maybe Woodrow’s abnormally hectic life since that day explains his forgetfulness.

He remarried in October. The mid-November ice storm created a blur of cold work for every WWP worker. Then came the hectic Christmas holidays with his new wife, Deanna, and their blended family of six kids.

But what happened last September is like a scene from a TV movie of the week.

A Spokane police officer wrote in his report that Woodrow’s actions “were heroic and the assistance he provided was commendable and saved the subject’s life.”

Today at 2 p.m., Woodrow and 13 others will be honored in the commissioners’ hearing room of the Public Works Building for a wide variety of good deeds. Woodrow’s story, however, is by far the most extraordinary.

Woodrow and his four children were taking a routine drive from their former home near Long Lake to have dinner in Spokane with Deanna.

As they passed the Nine Mile Bridge, his 13-year-old son, Brendan, pointed to a strange-looking middle-age man sitting alone on the ledge.

His eyes were red from crying. Bare feet poked out of blue jeans. His pink shirt was unbuttoned and hanging free.

The person was in obvious turmoil. Woodrow pulled into a nearby gas station and dialed 911. For reasons he can’t fully explain, he drove back.

Leaving the kids in the car to watch the ordeal, Woodrow, a 6-foot-2, 280-pound bruiser, gingerly approached the smaller figure who reeked of alcohol. “He looked like he was ready to go. He had his face in his hands.”

Woodrow said, “Hello,” but his heart sank when the man answered in Russian.

Years ago in the U.S. Navy, Woodrow met some Russian sailors. On the bridge he wracked his brain trying to remember a few words.

“Tovarisch,” he said, speaking the word for “friend.”

Having been through a painful divorce, Woodrow says he empathized with the man’s despair. “It’s like there’s nothing in your life you can depend on,” he says. “No solid footing.”

Woodrow spoke as best he could, trying to give the man hope. “Is there God?” the Russian stammered. “Yes, and he doesn’t want you dead,” replied Woodrow.

A woman health worker stopped her car to help, but the Russian, says Woodrow, snapped at her. He became even more agitated with the arrival of police.

The two men finally locked eyes. “I’d seen that look before,” recalls Woodrow. “He’d made his decision.”

As he rolled toward oblivion, Woodrow made his lifesaving clutch play. The 160-pound man was handcuffed and taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

As in all suicide attempts, police won’t release a name or much information about the man. I’d like to think he’s worked out his problems enough to realize his good fortune that Mark Woodrow happened by that day.

“Mark did an excellent job,” agrees sheriff’s Lt. Danny O’Dell, who was on the scene. “If he hadn’t, I suppose we would have been out there investigating a suicide.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo