Bill Laudien helped pull a man from a burning car Feb. 8 before it exploded. The East Windsor Township Council read a proclamation in his honor this week.
By: Michael Arges
EAST WINDSOR "Uncommon courage and heroism" the words from the proclamation describe the actions of East Windsor resident Bill Laudien the morning of Feb. 8.
On that day, Mr. Laudien helped a South Brunswick police officer pull an injured and semi-conscious man from his car just before the car erupted in flames.
The 25-year-old Mr. Laudien acted "without regard to his own well-being," to save James Higginbotham of Princeton, according to a proclamation presented to Mr. Laudien by the East Windsor Township Council during Tuesday’s council meeting.
Assemblyman Gary Guear, D-Hamilton, also was present to honor Mr. Laudien. With Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, D-Plainsboro, Assemblyman Guear has authored a state Assembly resolution honoring both Mr. Laudien and South Brunswick Officer Steve Walrond.
The uncertainty of the situation magnified Mr. Laudien’s courageous action, officials said.
"When you see flames on an automobile, you don’t know how much time you have," said East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov. "His heroic action resulted in the saving of the man’s life."
Mr. Laudien acknowledged the danger.
"I didn’t know what to expect I thought something was going to explode like on TV," Mr. Laudien said.
"There were two cars involved. One car caught on fire immediately those guys got out on their own," he added. "Mr. Higginbotham was in the other car. He was in pretty bad shape. I went up to his window, and he wasn’t responding."
At this point, Mr. Higginbotham’s car was not on fire and Mr. Laudien was afraid to move him unless absolutely necessary because he did not know the nature of the man’s injuries.
"A couple of moments later, I noticed some smoke beginning to come up from under his hood. A fire had developed," Mr. Laudien recalled. "Just at that moment, Officer Walrond pulled up. He ran up to it; he pulled the door open and I was right up behind him. We each pulled an arm and pulled him out. It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two later when the car was just engulfed in flames."
A resident of Vintage Road, Mr. Laudien appeared at the council meeting Tuesday with family members and his fiancée. A native of Jackson County, he moved to East Windsor about 18 months ago after graduating from Rowan University. He works as an online trading specialist for Merrill Lynch.
"The whole thing has been overwhelming: the attention I’ve received even here at work!" he said. "Merrill Lynch had put something up on an internal Web site, and I must have gotten 50 or 75 e-mailed congratulations from people all over the world who work for Merrill who read my story on the Web site!"
Although Mr. Laudien has enjoyed the recognition, he insisted that Officer Walrond is the real hero.
"I wasn’t alone, and Officer Walrond deserves more credit than I," he said. "He’s really the hero."