Emma Pirie and her parents were headed for family bicycle ride on July 4 – aiming for some time on the Interurban Trail, starting at about 160th, near their home.

Things literally went downhill when 7 year old Emma lost control of her pink 2-wheeler, and headed straight down 160th, speeding towards Aurora Avenue.

Mom and Dad watched helplessly as she screamed for help.  Then Joel Cragin jumped into action.  Joel is an employee of Rich’s Car Corner, who just happened to see the little girl in distress.  He ran after the careening bicycle.  When he realized he was not going to be able to catch her, he took a flying leap and grabbed the back end of the bike. Both he and little Emma slid partway down the slope, coming to a stop just short of Aurora Avenue.

Miraculously, both were unhurt except for scrapes and bruises.  But had Emma not been wearing a helmet, things would not have turned out so well.   The helmet was badly damaged (see photo).  “Knowing that kind of damage could have been done to her head just frightened me,” said Emma’s mom, Sahara.

Shoreline Fire community education specialist Melanie Granfors praised Joel for his actions, and asked that parents everywhere take the story to heart.  “We see so many children riding bikes without helmets,” she said.  “Emma’s story demonstrates how a tragedy can happen in a split second – one minute happily riding along, the next second headed for life-threatening injury.  Helmets make a huge difference in keeping bicyclists safe.”

Emma’s family created the “our hero” plaque that Joel is holding – and posed for a picture above the scene a few days after the incident.  “Joel is truly our hero,” said Emma’s dad, Jim.  “He acted so quickly, without thinking of how hard he was going to hit the ground – and literally saved our daughter’s life.”

Emma was wearing a bicycle helmet available to all Shoreline residents from the Fire Department.  Shoreline Fire sells the low-cost ($7.00) helmet to the public by appointment.   Call Community Education at 206-533-6500.