Marshall Ison, a 36-year veteran of Kentucky Power, works out of the Whitesburg office.
WHITESBURG, Ky. – In the span of a few weeks, not one, but two Kentucky Power employees came to the aid of women facing life-threatening circumstances.
Marshall Ison, a line servicer based in Whitesburg, and Marion Blair, a MRO specialist in Whitesburg, each rescued a woman they came across on the job.
Ison on January 12 following a series of windstorms in the area was working trouble tickets when he came upon an elderly woman and younger woman sitting in the middle of the road in the Goode Creek area of Neon in Letcher County. The older woman was covered in blood after falling face first onto the pavement and the younger woman was cradling her in her lap. Ison later learned the woman had Alzheimer’s and the younger woman was a caretaker.
“It was cold and rainy that day and they didn’t have coats on. I knew I had coats and rain coats, so I covered them both up. I set up cones to stop traffic and waited until the ambulance got there. The older lady had almost fallen in the creek.”
Ison didn’t share what he did that morning with anybody. But the elderly woman’s granddaughter, Brittany Mullins, reached out to Kentucky Power via a Facebook message to thank him.
“My grandmother who has Alzheimer’s had gotten out and gone down the road and tripped and was hurt very badly,” Mullins wrote. “They stopped and came right to us. Put their own coats on her to keep her warm and helped the ambulance drivers. I am forever grateful with how kind each of them were. I didn’t get their names because the situation was very bad but they are outstanding men and you have a great team.”
A few weeks later, on February 3, Blair found a woman lying in a creek up BeeTree Branch near Premium in Letcher County.
Marion Blair, a 41-year company veteran, works out of the Whitesburg office.
“I had a cutoff and pulled into the driveway. I went to pull the meter then when I got back to my truck and was pulling out of driveway, I saw her,” Blair said. “I stopped and saw she was breathing. I got the neighbors to call 911. And stayed with her until the ambulance and police got there. She was in bad shape but you do what you can to save somebody. I was glad I was able to find her in time. There’s not much traffic on BeeTree Fork, so I don’t think she would have survived much longer.”
The woman’s daughter, Alex Bentley, tweeted about the incident on Twitter and included a photo of her mother in the hospital.
“@WYMT - Please look into this. Letcher county woman found unresponsive in creek at BeeTree Branch in Premium KY by AEP worker. Currently on life support at Pikeville Medical Center. This is my mother, Shannon Kate Bentley!”
Both Blair, who has been with the company for 41 years, and Ison, who has been with Kentucky Power for 36 years, said on-the-job training helped them in each situation.
“Before, I probably would have panicked without the training, trying to do something for the lady,” Blair said.
Ison said in addition to the training, it was just the right thing to do.
“I believe you help anybody when you can if you can,” Ison said. “I’m glad that someone recognized what I did. But I didn’t do it for the recognition. What I did was one small thing. When you pass up helping someone, you take a chance on passing on a blessing that will come to you.”