SAVANNAH, Ga. (WJCL) — A firefighter in Georgia saved the life of a pregnant woman trapped in an elevator 18 years ago. Now, nearly two decades later, he gets to see her daughter graduate.
In April 2005, it was the end of a long shift for air traffic controller Mary Mayconich-Beasley at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.
Mary and her colleague were headed down the elevator of an air traffic control tower when a noise stopped them cold.
"It was like a repeat of a bad movie where, thud, you drop," said Mary.
The two were trapped and Mary began to smell smoke.
"When there's smoke, there's maybe fire. So all I knew is [there was] a bad smell and nothing comes good out of that, said Mary.
Firefighter Raymond Sikes answered the call.
"We had people from the tower saying they could smell smoke and then somewhere along the way, we found out we had people entrapped in the elevator. They were at the very top," said Ray.
At the tower, he learned not two, but three lives were in peril. Mary was seven months pregnant.
With urgency, he freed them all. Two months later, Malia Beasley was born. But as the years went by, they never reconnected.
"An opportunity came and I just took it. I'm like, okay, this is what I need to do. I need to recognize people that made an impact on my life," said Mary.
The opportunity was Malia's high school graduation, which Mary thought was a great chance to reunite with the man who saved them. The problem was, Mary didn't even know the name of the man who helped rescue them.
"I called the phone number and I talked to Raymond," said Mary.
When asked if she recognized his voice, Mary said, "No, but I didn't have to recognize the voice because he knew the whole story and he told me all about it. It was nice to hear his side because I never talked to him since that day."
Ray ended up making it to Malia's graduation. While their reunion only lasted a day, this time, they're staying in touch.
Malia is off to college in the fall, and Ray is expecting another invitation in four years.
