Brotherly love: HHS student honored for saving brother's life

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HHS student Dillon Gardner is ...

HOLLY, Michigan – Life in 2012 could have been a lot different for family members and friends of Dane Gardner had it not been for the quick thinking and heroic actions of his  younger brother, Dillon, on Dec. 27, 2011.

Traveling along a slick and snowy McClelland Road between Dixie Highway and Vassar in Holly Township, Dane, 17 was driving himself and his brother Dillon, 15, home from a morning basketball practice when their SUV hit a slick spot in the road.

Traveling at approximately 45 mph, Dane lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tree.

Dillon, who was reading a magazine in the front passenger seat, said he didn’t know what was happening, and hadn’t seen the accident coming.

Looking to his left, Dillon saw his brother, slumped in the driver’s seat, blood pouring from his forehead and shoulder.

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The Gardner's SUV was complete...

“I thought he was dead at first,” Dillon said of his brother, adding that he began to frantically kick the passenger door open to get out.

In the meantime, Dane had awakened from the crash and began screaming in pain from his injuries. As Dillon struggled to pull his brother from the wreck, flames licked at the vehicle’s windshield, and the entire car began to fill with smoke. Forced to tear out the passenger side console, Dillon was eventually able to free his brother and carry him away from the vehicle before it burst into flames.

While both boys had lost their shoes, cell phones and all belongings in the accident, Dillon, who also suffered a 2-inch gash in his shoulder, threw his brother over his shoulder, and began carrying him barefooted through the snow for more than a half mile to Dixie Highway.

A passing salt truck spotted the battered brothers at the intersection, and picked them up.

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Dane Gardner received 19 stitc...

Following two hours of surgery, Dane received 19 stitches in his face, and 30 stitches to his left shoulder.

More than a month after the crash, Dane has recovered fairly well from the accident. “My arm is pretty much healed – I just have a big scar, and we’re going to go to the dermatologist about the scars on my forehead,” Dane said. “I’m feeling pretty good.”

As for the brothers’ relationship, both say that the incident hasn’t changed it all that much. “I’m glad he’s OK,” Dillon said of Dane. “But it really hasn’t changed our relationship that much – we’ve always been pretty tight.”

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners will honor Dillon for his heroic actions.

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Bob Hoffman

“I wanted to recognize Dillon because so often today, we pick up a newspaper and read about all the negative things our kids are doing,” Hoffman said. “Here is a kid who without giving any thought to his own personal safety, tore out the console of a car to rescue and save the life of his brother. He then carried him a half mile in the snow - barefooted to get help,” he added. “Heroic actions like that just don’t happen every day.”

Hoffman and other members of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners will recognize Dillon tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Commissioners Auditorium, 1200 N. Telegraph Rd., Pontiac. The meeting is open to the public.