The April 11 Herald story on Page 3A about the fire at the Mountain Vista Mobile Home Park told a story about devastation and skimmed over the part where a hero selflessly entered a burning building to save a woman.

He didn’t know this woman, who she was or her life story. All he knew upon making the decision that her well-being was just as important as his own – if not more – was that he was getting her out no matter what it took. That hero was my dad, and his name is Travis Bashaw. I thought it a small devastation, in and of itself, that his name was not mentioned in the story.

I don’t believe it’s every day that someone would put their own well-being second to a complete stranger’s. I can’t say I would have done the same had I been in that situation, and I’m not so sure that many others would, either. Upon receiving the phone call from my dad letting me know that he was OK and the home that was destroyed wasn’t his, I shrugged off his role in the catastrophic event because that’s always been my dad. He’s been my own personal hero ever since I can remember.

Whether it was teaching me how to use a socket wrench or teaching me how to ride a bike by convincing me that he was holding the back of the seat while I was riding (even though, as I found out later on, that wasn’t the case) my dad’s love has always been encompassed within the nature of a hero.

It’s not every day that someone saves a “damsel in distress” like in the fairy tales, and when it does happen, I believe recognition is well-deserved.

Sarah Bashaw

Durango