PHOTO: Dog Guards Dead Victim's Body After Oklahoma Tornado Disaster
WATCH: Heckler Hijacks Obama Speech On Drones, Gitmo
The Vancouver, Wash., fifth-grader saved a young girl's life in December when he pulled her out of the path of fast-moving car driven by a text-messaging driver.
"I was like, you know, I can't let her get hit, so I had to pull her in," Siegel, 11, told KPTV. "It really didn't matter to me at that point. I just wanted to keep her safe."
Carol Stein, patrol adviser at Salmon Creek Elementary School and Evan's on-the-job supervisor, could see the event unfolding but couldn't reach the little girl, who was supposed to be waiting next to Evan but instead stepped out into traffic.
"It's a horrible crosswalk," Stein said of the accident site. "Everyone agrees it's not a good situation, but this is how they designed it, and so we have to deal with it."
All the crossing guards at Salmon Creek undergo a week of training, but because the crosswalk is so dangerous, Stein handpicks the guards who work it. Evan was an obvious choice.
"He's very responsible. He is one of the more mature fifth-graders that we've got," she told AOL News.
Siegel and six other crossing guard heroes, all part of AAA's nationwide School Safety Patrol program, will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to receive Lifesaving Medals.
The patrol program was founded in 1920. Evan joins the vest-wearing ranks of such notable former patrolers as President Bill Clinton, Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner and Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.
"Every year we have more than 600,000 patrolers nationwide in 31,000 schools who are volunteering their time before and after school to get kids to school safely," AAA spokeswoman Jennifer Huebner-Davidson told AOL News.
"Occasionally, we will have a case where a patroler has saved the life of another student while on duty," she said. Since 1949, AAA has recognized these everyday heroes with its Lifesaving Medal. This year's seven recipients will bring the total number of patrol lifesavers to 399.
Paul Hardin pulled an adult pedestrian, a parent, out of the way of an oncoming car at Canterbury Woods Elementary School in Annandale, Va. The parent had ignored Hardin's verbal warning.
Marisha Little and Sierra Walters at Ranson Elementary School in West Virginia wrangled an escaped kindergartner. After the pair saw him wander away, Sierra retrieved him. He then darted into traffic, toward his aunt but also into the path of an oncoming car. Marisha pulled him back onto the sidewalk.
Marisha teamed with another Ranson guard, Talyn Underwood, to save a second-grade student who was running backward into traffic. The driver of an oncoming car was facing in another direction. The girls yelled to alert the driver and pulled the student out of harm's way.
Kamryn Mendell of Fox Chapel Elementary School in Germantown, Md., pulled a first-grader out of the path of a school bus with one hand and held back a crew of students with the other.
Sponsored Links
Jake Vowell pulled a first-grader away from two oncoming cars that failed to stop at a stop sign. Vowell attends Carpenter Elementary in Park Ridge, Ill.The group of lifesavers will visit monuments, meet members of the FBI and receive the AAA Lifesaving Award in the presence of members of Congress.
Salmon Creek's Evan Siegel told KPTV the attention made him feel special.
"It kind of let me feel like I was a hero, kind of, a little bit," he said. "Like Superman saving someone from the streets."
Report: Yahoo Is Bidding On Hulu
DOJ Confirms Holder Vetted Warrant For Rosen Emails
GOP Senator: Obama Speech A 'Victory' For 'Terrorists'
LOOK: How Bad Are Your State's Bridges?
Sequestration Shuts Down The IRS
Abercrombie Announces Plummeting Sales Amid Controversy
Toronto Mayor: I Don't Smoke Crack
Obama Gitmo Plan At Odds With Top Military Advisers
Fox News Host's Outrageous Comment
GOP Senate Candidate Calls Dem 'Pond Scum'
The iPhone Might Get A Lot Sleeker Very Soon
759 Bridges In Washington Have Worse Scores Than The One That Collapsed
McConnell, Paul Gang Up On GOP
Britain Scrambles Fighter Jets To Escort Pakistani Plane
WATCH: Maddow Excoriates Alex Jones
Remembering The Victims Of The Tornado
Gay Teen Charged With Felonies Over Relationship Refuses Plea Deal
Video Shows Taxi Drivers Discriminating Against Black Customers
State Department Official Who Helped With Benghazi Talking Points Nominated To Top Post
BEFORE/AFTER PHOTOS: Schools And Medical Center Decimated By Tornado
Spain Spent $680 Million On A Submarine That Can't Float
Clinton Leads In Poll Of Key 2016 State
Palin Gets Confused
Kansas State Senator Really Worried That Reducing Taxes On Groceries Will Lead People To Buy Nothing But Groceries Ever Again
'As Madison Wrote In Article 3, Yippee-Ki-Yay Motherf***er!'
Jesus Endorsed Mayor Loses To Gay Man
Vulnerable Dem Targeted By Bloomberg Group
LOOK: Veteran Suicides Outpace Child Gun Deaths
Hospital Prices Explained: How Charges For Medical Care Got So Crazy
Are You Inhaling Pesticides With Your Pot?
