January 23, 2004

CITY RESIDENT HONORED FOR RIVER RESCUE

City resident William Thomas, third from left, received a Resolution from the City Council during its January regular meeting held earlier this month. Thomas was honored for rescuing a motorist whose car ended up in the chilly waters of the Rahway River in November. Joining him are, from left, Police Chief Edward Hudak; Maketha Thomas, his mother; Fourth Ward Councilman David Brown and Jamelia Thomas, his wife.

On November 25, 2003, a 1999 Toyota Camry driven by 28 year-old Folashade Oyefeso of Newark was struck by another vehicle and veered off the road into the Rahway River in the vicinity of East Hazelwood Avenue and Routes 1 & 9 shortly after 7:20 a.m. Thomas, a coworker of Oyefeso at the Woodbridge Developmental Center in Avenel, entered the water and pulled her to safety. She was taken to Rahway Hospital where she was treated and released. The vehicle was pulled from the water around 12:30 p.m.

Since the incident, Thomas has been recognized by Governor James E. McGreevey, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Rahway Kiwanis Club, the Rahway Masonic Lodge and the Woodbridge Developmental Center.

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