Dec. 22, 2004 - 22:26 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

One Of A Kind

Things can change in a second, a person having no control over what is happening right then but can with bravery and intelligence change the events thereafter. In that instant a quick decision must be made that can govern the outcome.

Such is the case mentioned in The Register Guard of Eugene, Oregon of December 22, 2004. Article by Tim Christie of the same paper. In part:

DAUGHTER�S BRAVERY SAVED DAD

�As she huddled under a blanket in her bedroom, 17 year old A. J. Westenskow listened to the commotion in the next room, called 911 on her cell phone and in a whisper told the dispatcher what she was hearing.�

�She heard shouting voices demanding money, the crashing sounds of a fight and the screaming protests of her father. Two intruders, armed with knives and a hammer, had broken into the house in Cheshire the morning of Nov. 23, 2003. They were beating and torturing her father, but had no idea that a frightened teenage girl was in the house.�

�I just have to get through this and pray to God they don�t find me,� she thought to herself.�

�Lane County sheriff�s deputies arrived and arrested the men, who are now serving long prison terms.�

�It was the longest 45 minutes of Westenskow�s life.�

�The Lane County sheriff�s office will recognize Westenskow today with a citation for her bravery and heroism under peril. Now an 18 year-old Land Community College student, she said she just did what her parents taught her to do in an emergency: Keep cool and call 911.�

�I was just really angry that was happening,� she said Tuesday. �In my mind, all I wanted to do was get out of that situation. The only way to do that was to stay calm.�

�Her cool head likely spared her father from death, authorities say.�

�It was her phone calls that basically saved his life,� Detective Randy Eschleman said.�

�Her father has no doubt about what his daughter did. �She saved my life,� Creg Westenskow said. �She�s my hero.�

�It was about 4 a.m. when loud noises in the living room awoke A. J. Westenskow. She was living in Portland with her mother at the time, but was down visiting her father for the weekend at h is rural home on Hall Road in Cheshire, west of Junction city.�

�I heard them coming through the front door, � she said. �I heard my dad yelling at them to get out of the house. From there on I heard them yelling at my dad and a lot of scuffling.�

�Her room was next to the living room, but accessible through a different part of the house. She didn�t know if the intruders knew she was at home. The first thing she did was turn off the ringer of her cell phone.�

�She listened for 15 minutes in growing terror as the confrontation on the other side of the wall escalated. She finally got up the nerve to call 911. She pulled the blanket over her head and whispered to the dispatcher.�

�For 45 minutes she stayed on the line, describing the layout of the house, so officers would know where to go when they arrived, and recounted the screaming and �horrible, horrible things� she was hearing.�

�I was afraid to move because it would make a sound,� she said.�

�She thought at any given time they would come in and find her,� Eshleman said. �Many times she didn�t think she would make it through the night. She was very, very afraid but she kept her head about her.�

�When officers arrived and announced their presence from outside the house, she hung up the phone.�

�I was really concerned they would figure out someone was in the house because they had ripped the phone out of the wall.�

�Creg Westenskow, bound hand and foot, was rescued out a window and taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was treated for a collapsed lung, crushed ribs and cuts and bruises. Doctors said the injuries probably would have been fatal had help not arrived when it did, Westenskow said.�

�When officers got the intruders out of the house, the men claimed that other men had beaten up Westenskow , and that they were coming to his aid. That�s when A.J. Westenskow emerged and told officers what really happened. Her presence enabled detectives to get a confession out of the suspects, Eshleman said.�

�Keith Justin Morrill, 31, of Eugene and Steven Ray Epstein, 25, of Springfield pleaded guilty last January to first degree robbery and kidnapping and Morrill also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. Both were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Westenskow knew one of the men through his work.�

�Eshleman, the detective, said it would have been better if Westenskow could have escaped the house, but it wasn�t possible for her to get out of the widow of her room.�

�She probably did the best thing she possibly could have done, he said.�

�Westenskow deflects the suggestion that she�s any kind of hero, saying she was acting out of instinct and self preservation. �It�s the sheriff�s officers who deserve the real credit,� she said.�

�They�re the heroes, honestly,� she said. �Without them, none of this would have been resolved. They�re people who put their lives on the line everyday for people they don�t know.�

Thoughts and opinions. One thing in favor of having a cell phone, that�s for sure. But having the intelligence and guts to put it to use like the young lady did is a testimony to her in every way. Had she not done as she did there is the possibility that she would have been discovered and killed when the two men began to ransack the house later.

I think things like her actions show the capability of bravery and rapidity of a person�s intelligent action, as well as obtaining the help needed. What a lady!

I think there is more to the story than came out in the article, something that hints there is more than has been written, wonder where the �kidnapping� came in? I guess that in most news articles there are chapters that could be written, but would take up more space than a daily newspaper has.

This is one of those things that make me wish I could be around in her later years to see how her life is going, to see if she has any kids, if she has a good husband and little things associated with the doings of someone who really counts and can be implicitly counted on. Just hate to lose track of people like that.

I wish her well, she is One Of A Kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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