Two honored for river rescue of man

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – Two American Falls residents were honored for rescuing a man whose vehicle skidded on ice and crashed upside down in a fast, icy river.

U.S Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was in American Falls last week to present Writs of Valor to Greg Cannell and Tina Taysom for saving Ron Meadville’s life.

Meadville, a former postal carrier, was returning to Salmon from his 110-mile mail route along North Fork Road when he hit a patch of ice and plunged off a 25-foot embankment into the Salmon River.

He said he was able to find a pocket of air inside the flooded cab.

Cannell and Taysom had stopped along the road to watch a herd of deer.

They saw the pickup drive past, but when Cannell resumed driving and rounded the icy curve, he noticed he couldn’t see the truck ahead of him on a long, straight stretch of road.

He then noticed a set of tire tracks running off the road.

“We all have an image of what a hero is, but in truth, a hero is just an everyday person going about everyday activities,” Cannell said. “We were just us, and were at the right place at the right time.”

Cannell got into the water and pulled Meadville out of the truck.

“He was disoriented and didn’t want to go underwater to get out of the pickup,” Cannell recalled. “I didn’t give him any choice.”

Taysom helped haul Meadville up the embankment to Cannell’s vehicle. They drove him to his home, just a mile away, and helped him inside.

“They wouldn’t let us do a thing for them,” said Meadville’s wife, Bobbi. “Tina even mopped up the water on my floor from their wet clothing.”

“They haven’t wanted to be called heroes, but they are heroes, both of them,” Ron Meadville said.

“I often lie in bed and think about the ‘what ifs,’ but there are no ‘what ifs’ because of these two people.”