POWERGRAMS

FROM QUIET SUNDAY TO RESCUE MISSION Bobby Madison devotes his Sundays to church and family. One day last winter, he made an exception. Madison and his wife were building a new home, and the contractor called early in the morning, wanting to install carpet. With the contractor needing materials at 10 a.m., Madison agreed to pick up the carpet. "We live on a street with only one house above me, and it's kind of uphill," said Madison, Business Practices specialist - Birmingham Division. "As I was going in, I saw a neighbor's car go down the street and stop at the middle of the hill. An elderly lady who used to be my middle school principal lives there, and I thought she was just stopping because she forgot something." Madison continued carrying the carpeting inside. About 30 minutes later, he saw the car was still there. As he approached, Madison yelled, "Hey, hey!'" With no response, he looked down and saw a ravine. A woman lay there, under a heavy tree branch. Madison took off running for her. "It was really cold and rainy, one of those days when it was in the low 30s," he said. "She was laying there for at least 30 to 40 minutes in the freezing cold. By the time I got to her, she was shaking and shivering. "That was a spot where no one would have come other than me, and it just happened to be a Sunday morning that I was there," he said. "I'm never there at that time, so I think God kind of placed me there to make sure she was OK." When Madison reached his neighbor, she was shaking, unable to move and couldn't feel anything. She had tried to move the branch from the road, and fell with the branch ending up on top of her. "I braced myself and pulled her out," he said. "She was still shaking and shivering, so I called an ambulance. She had a broken hip and wouldn't have been able to move. She had hip surgery two weeks later." Madison won a forever friend that day. "She stops by two or three times a week and tells me I'm her guardian angel and I saved her life," he said. FINDING DESTINY ON THE WAY TO WORK For 28 years, Anthony Nix has voted in national elections in the afternoon following work. But on Nov. 6, 2018, he and his wife, Francine, voted around 7 a.m. to avoid a line of incoming thunderstorms. Nix's work route took him to State Highway 25 between Centreville and Montevallo. While driving in Centreville, Nix noticed a truck following closely. He was concerned because the driver seemed impatient and ready to pass. Suddenly, in his peripheral vision, Nix saw a toddler running about 1 foot off the road. "I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting the child," he said. "Then the traffic stopped, and the truck went around and blocked the other direction of traffic." Without room to park at the shoulder of the road, Nix quickly stopped his car. He ran to pick up the boy, who was standing between two driveways. There were houses nearby, but no one came to collect the toddler. Nix tried to get the youngster to talk, without success. When asked where he lived, the toddler pointed at both houses. Nix called the police. "They met us out there about two hours later," Nix said. "We stayed out there on the side of the highway with the child until the authorities arrived." For those two hours, no one came looking for the child or called his name. "I was kind of leery about going up to the house and saying, 'Hey, is this your child?' Nix said. "In this day and time that we live in, I was just grateful for the Lord having me in the right place at the right time." A Department of Human Resources worker arrived to care for the child. "For whatever reason, the Lord had me vote that morning," said Nix, Safety Specialist - Corporate Headquarters. "It meant more to me than just voting. It meant possibly helping save someone's life." In the past 34 years, more than 190 employees have received the company's top safety award. Nominations are submitted by executive management and approved by the Central Safety Committee. by Donna Cope 3 Bradley, Nix, Crosswhite, Daniel, Madison

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