Garner children hailed as heroes

Three Garner children received medals from mayor Ronnie Williams last week after their quick thinking may have saved a dad's life.

9-year-old Gena Volz was home with her 3-year-old sister in March when her father, Billy Volz, decided to clean the gutters.

"Jokingly, every time I would go on the roof, especially Christmastime, I would tell her to watch me in case I fall, and if I fall you have to go get Mommy," Volz said.

Disaster struck minutes later: Volz slipped off the roof, and Mommy was not home.

"I just heard like...(yells), and then I heard a drop," Gena said. "I prayed to God and asked him to help my daddy."

Luckily, Gena's friends Ethan Wray, 9, and his sister Claire, 8, were on the way over to see if Gena could play. As soon as he saw Volz on the ground, Billy said, he ran to get his father for help.

While the ambulance was on the way, Gena checked on her little sister with Claire and made sure the house was secure.

"The window was still open so I said we don't want anybody else to go flying," Claire said.

Emergency crews arrived and took Volz to the hospital. Almost four months later he's using a wheelchair and is still undergoing rehabilitation. Volz suffered from eight broken ribs and three broken vertebrae, and says 95 percent of people who suffer such an injury don't make it.

"I'll never be able to repay them," Volz said of the children.