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Lori Prichard reportingA Bountiful couple is up for a national award for stopping to help at the scene of a fatal accident. That accident happened in South Dakota nearly 10 months ago, and it's a memory the two will never forget.
Richard and Janet Filiczkowski are tandem truck drivers. Last April, they were driving on a quiet stretch of highway about 100 miles west of Sioux Falls when they saw a car cross four lanes of traffic and dive nose first into a pond.
In that sinking car was a little girl.
Richard said, "Dove right in because I saw Abby pounding on the window."
There's no doubt 8-year-old Abigail Bern is alive today because of Richard. He said, "My only instinct was to react and get her out of the car as soon as possible. In situations like that, seconds count."
Seconds do count. Also inside the car and submerged in eight feet of water was Abigail's father.
"I was able to get my arms around Dr. Burn and pulled with everything that I have. I sucked in a lung full of water, and I was able to pull him up to the surface," Richard said.
Forty-two-year-old Jeff Bern, a pediatrician and father of three died at the scene.
"I wish I was faster for him. My only regret, I just wish I was faster," Richard says. Despite that deep regret, Richard and his wife Janet are finalists for a national award, Goodyear North America Highway Hero Award, for their heroic efforts. But to them, the hero is Abigail.
Janet says, "She's the real hero. She really is. She was so strong. I couldn't believe that this little girl could be so strong. She was just amazing."
As the Bern family recovers and the Filiczkowski's try to move on from the terrible memory of that day, it turns out the two families are helping one another.
"I have never met such wonderful people. They are so caring and giving and thankful to us for Abby," Janet said.
The Filiczkowski's will fly to Louisville, Ky., for the awards banquet, which will be held March 27. They say if they win, they will donate half the money they receive to the Berns. By the way, the Filiczkowski's have renamed their rig "Abby's Angels."
