Courageous Kids

Emily and Rodgie Moore, students at Makowski’s ATA Martial Arts Academy in Sarver, Pennsylvania, saved the day and their father, Mr. Rodger Moore, on November 30, 2005. Coincidently, they were playing with a floor jack earlier that day and dad was showing them how it works. They took turns standing on it while the other turned the handle that controls the mechanism capable of lifting three tons. They had no idea how important that time would become in just a few hours. Later that day, Mr. Moore was working under a car in the yard when it slipped off wooden blocks and pinned him. The loud crashing sound brought five-year old Rodgie to the scene. Mr. Moore sent Rodgie off to get ten-year old Emily who was on the phone with a cousin. Emily was the only other person home at the time. She raced to the scene and retrieved a cell phone that had fallen just out of her dad’s reach.

Emily phoned her uncle while Rodgie ran to the neighbor’s for help. Mr. Moore, short of breath and struggling from the weight that was crushing him then instructed Emily to get the floor jack. Emily struggled to drag the jack to the scene as its small stiff wheels bounced along the gravel driveway. Despite the difficulty, with dad’s encouragement, Emily persevered and maneuvered the jack into place. As she attempted to raise the car, the jack handle which requires turning came loose and began to spin without lifting the car. Struggling to speak, Mr. Moore then told Emily to move her hands to the lower part of the handle and continue turning it. Emily raised the jack enough to get the pressure of the car off of her dad’s chest just as others who were alerted by Rodgie’s run for help and Emily’s phone calls began to arrive. Mr. Moore was flown by medical helicopter to a nearby hospital and is recovering from multiple broken ribs.

Mrs. Katrina Moore, Emily and Rodgie’s mother, attributes Emily’s success in performing the physical task of moving the jack and operating it to her ATA training and instruction. It improves Emily’s strength and balance. Emily has a mild form of cerebral palsy which could have made the situation even more challenging to her than most children. Makowski’s ATA Martial Arts Academy recognized Emily’s and Rodgie’s heroic efforts with “Courageous Kids Award” plaques at a recent testing.