Kids & Family
Marine from O'Fallon Helps Save Family After California Highway Crash
The Marine and his wife, both originally from O'Fallon, were the first upon the scene of the crash.
Sergeant Richard Skates, 25, an O'Fallon native currently stationed at Camp Pendleton in California, is a hero for helping to save a family of four after a car crash earlier this month.
Skates, along with his wife Jacqueline and their baby, were driving on a highway exit ramp near Route 78 and Highway 5 on July 9 when they came upon the crash.
Skates said that they first thought it was a dust storm because of the cloud of dust and debris kicked up by the crash.
Skates' wife called 911 and Skates helped pull the injured children from the vehicle. Skates stayed inside the vehicle with an injured woman while it was righted, making sure she was safe and conscious.
“We all received basic lifesaving techniques in recruit training,” Skates told a military news organization. “It’s funny how quick that stuff comes right back when you need it. It just hit me. I thought, this is how I do it, and this is what needs to happen.”
Skates is an amphibious assault vehicle crewman serving with Charlie Company, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion.
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