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Apex High grad
rescues six sailors following tanker explosion
Mary Jekielek
Insprucker, Contributing Writer
March 18, 2004
David Foreman, a 1998 gradu-
ate of Apex High School, lived
the reality of his dream of being
a U.S. Coast Guard rescue
swimmer on Feb. 28.
That is when Foreman
dropped into the 40-degree
waters off the coast of Virginia
and rescued six sailors.
The Bow Mariner, carrying
countless gallons of highly
flammable diesel fuel, ethanol,
and fuel oil, caught fire and
exploded off the Virginia coast
just south of the Maryland line.
Stationed in Elizabeth City,
the 24-year-old petty officer
along with a crew boarded a
HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and
headed to the disaster site. At
the tanker sank, the crew
noticed a life raft with the
saikrs in it.
The Coast Guard dropped a
rescue basket near the raft.
However, the sailors were too
afraid to swim to it, so Foreman
was lowered into the chemical-
filled water to help them.
“I was scared because I didn’t
know what I was jumping into,”
said Foreman. “But it became a
case of what you don’t know
won’t hurt you, so I jumped and
step by step did my job.”
However, Foreman said even
if he were aware of the danger,
he would have helped anyway.
“I still would have done it
because if I look into the future
I know I couldn’t live with the
fact that people died that I could
have helped,” said Foreman.
Foreman pulled four men to
the basket and then helped an
injured sailor on to a litter.
“I thought the last man was
dead but when I realized he
wasn’t, I got him up,” said
Foreman.
When the crew sent the hook
for Foreman, he was disoriented
and had trouble getting up to the
helicopter. He was in the water
approximately 33 minutes.
The Apex hero, who has been.
with the Coast Guard for six
years and started his rescue
swimming as an ocean life-
guard, has now been spotlighted
on National Public Radio and
several news shows, including
CNN.
“Some news sources are
reporting that I burnt my face,
but 1 didn’t,” said Foreman.
His stepmother, Jenny, is
pleased with his newfound
celebrity.
“I go to work or somewhere
else and people mention how
they saw him on TV or in the
newspaper,” said Jenny. “I’m
glad homefolks are supporting
him. He’s a good kid.”
Foreman’s dad Coby has simi-
lar sentiments.
“I’m very proud of who he is,
not necessarily what he’s done.”
Coby, who works for the DOT
and was quite a good swimmer
in his younger days, guessed
Foreman’s love of the Coast
Guard was born out of family
history.
“Some of my uncles were in
the Coast Guard and Dave grew
up listening to their stories of
rescues. He always knew he did-
n’t want to go to college. He just
wanted to go straight into the
Coast Guard.”
This is not Foreman’s first
stint as a hero. He has partici-
pated in several Medivac situa-
tions including aiding a fisher-
man who severed his thumb,
dealing with a seizure on a Navy
ship, and rescuing a boat lost in
a storm.
Apex High School teacher
Betty Brown who taught
Foreman English was not sur-
prised to hear of his brave
exploits.
“He was the kind of young
man that did things because it
was the right thing to do, not for
the glory of it,” said Brown,
who has been at Apex High
since 1981.
Brown was not sure if they
influenced him, but many of the
themes she taught were on
chivalry, friendship, and hero-
ism.
“We learned about humble
heroes, which fits Dave well.
He was an all-around good fel-
low and was liked by his class-
mates. He was quiet and unas-
suming.”
Foreman agrees he was the
quiet type in school.
“Jn fact, I was even kind-of
nerdy, and you can go ahead and
print that. Maybe it will give
hope to others out there like
me.”
Foreman said the least favorite
part of his job is acting as an
EMT.
“It’s a lot of responsibility.
Jumping into the water is noth-
ing. You either get them, or you
don’t.”
Because of the chemicals,
Foreman will be monitored for
have a slight irritation in my
lungs and a runny nose.”
Foreman said all six men he
rescued survived. Three others
that were recovered later died
and 18 are still missing.
“The search for the 18 was
crilled off after three days.
However, there is talk of raising
the ship.”
As of July 15, Foreman, who
says he plans to stay with the
Coast Guard for as long as they
will have him, will be trans-
ferred to New Orleans.
“The main search and rescue
associated with New Orleans
has to do with oil rigs. The crew
jokes that I will be highly
trained for the job.”
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Chamber of commerce
still a mystery to many residents
Hilary Caryl Russell, Staff Writer
March 18, 2004
There’s a bit of mystery sur-
rounding a non-profit organiza-
tion in the downtown area.
Myths about the purpose of a
chamber of commerce have
ranged from the assumption that
the Chamber acts solely as a vis-
itor center, to the assumption that
all businesses in the community
are members of the Chamber,
according to Executive Director
of the Apex Chamber of
Commerce, Sheryl Bynum.
Another misconception is that
the organization is part of the
town’s government, and still
perhaps one of the most com-
morn that the Chamber is
Apex’s local Better Business
Bureau.
“A lot of people think we
monitor anything that is going
on and that we have the authori-
ty to act on complaints,” said
Bynum. “But we can’t do any-
thing about it because we are not
set up like the Better Business
Bureau and all we can do is let a
business know if we’ve heard a
complaint.”
These myths, said Bynum,
lend weight to the chance that
many businesses and residents
don’t know about the variety of
hats the Apex Chamber of
Commerce wears in the commu
nity.
Some of the key benefits that
membership affords are exposure
to the public in the chamber’s
various business directories as
well as the opportunity to net-
work with likeminded people.
The chamber refers businesses
and individuals looking for a
particular product or service to
one of its members who is
skilled in such an area.
“We’re in touch with people
who are moving into the area,
residential and businesses, and
we refer our members all of the
time to residents and other busi-
nesses.”
Daniel Davis, president of the
chamber and owner of LPL
Financial Services in Apex, said
the referrals are one of the main
reasons he touts the organization
as a ‘must have’ for any busi-
ness owner.
“My wife now calls the cham-
ber if she needs a crane for her
business or needs some type of
trucking. She has said it was
absolutely incredible how helpful
they were in finding local compa-
nies to do the work,” he said.
Networking is also a main
draw for members because it
gives people the chance to meet
and exchange information.
“The networking is one way to
connect with 430-plus people
who are basically in your zip
code,” said Davis. So if you are
a small or large business and
you do most of your business
within Apex or the outlying
areas this is a way for people to
get to know you without them
having to drop into your office.”
The chamber has also been
instrumental in helping the revi-
talization of the downtown area,
according to Bynum.
“We’ve been very successful
with being able to help locate
people in the downtown area
and our involvement in that is
one of the reasons our down-
town area is doing so well.”
The chamber even has an in
house person, Vivian Hotle,
director of economic develop-
ment, who is responsible for
providing information about the
area to introducing new busi-
nesses and people interested in
relocating to Apex.
The chamber not only refers
the names and numbers of local
businesses, which can save
members a great deal of time,
but they also list them in the
annual Apex Community Guide
and Membership Directory and
provide a free link to the busi-
nesses website from the cham-
ber’s website.
For information about joining
the Chamber, go to
wwwApexchamber.com, or call
362-6456.
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