Caltrans Equipment Operator II

Department of Transportation

11/24/2004

Special Act Award (Gold)

On November 24, 2004 at approximately 10:00 am, California Department of Transportation employee Stephen C. Maraviov was on patrol on Highway 36 in Trinity County when he noticed tire tracks on the shoulder headed towards the edge of an embankment. He parked his vehicle, walked to the edge, looked down and saw an upside down vehicle against a tree about 50 feet down the steep bank. The canyon bottom was approximately 1,000 feet below. Mr. Maraviov climbed down and found an elderly woman trapped in the vehicle. The woman was disoriented and thought she had crashed sometime during the night. The outside temperature was 20 degrees, so Mr. Maraviov gave her his jacket. After climbing back to his vehicle and calling for assistance, he returned to the woman’s vehicle and secured it to the tree with a chain. He was unable to get the doors open, so he removed the back seat and took the woman out of the vehicle through the trunk. Mr. Maraviov then put the woman on his back and carried her up the bank where medical help was arriving. The California Highway Patrol determined that the accident happened around 6:30 p.m. the previous day and the woman had been trapped in her car for approximately 14 hours before Mr. Maraviov found her. Mr. Maraviov’s actions saved the woman from further injury or death.