The number of Everyday Hero awards given per year fluctuates. Sometimes two or three are given, and sometimes none, depending on what calls medics receive and how bystanders respond to those situations, Paluka said.

After receiving his award, Wesley said he was thankful, even though he doesn’t necessarily see himself as a hero.

“It was just kind of like an instinct thing, like God took over,” he said.

Fuxa, a sixth-grade teacher at Liberty Public Schools, said that when she stopped to help on the side of the road, Wesley was on the phone with 911 in one ear and on the phone with his mother in the other.

Jason Spohn was so weak when Fuxa arrived that when she asked him to squeeze her hand to keep him awake, she only felt a soft pinch. She said she didn’t know what might have happened to him if Wesley hadn’t taken over or if she and her friend hadn’t stopped to help.

Jason Spohn was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he received his third heart stent in nine months.

Looking back, Jason Spohn recalled teaching his son to start his vehicle when Wesley was about 9 years old. He said that experience, no matter how trivial, was the reason everyone made it out of the situation relatively unscathed.

Referencing all the attention his son has received since saving their lives, Jason Spohn said after the ceremony, “He definitely impressed me, too. He’s a good kid.”

Paighten Harkins 918-581-8455 paighten.harkins@tulsaworld.com