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Wauconda's Sundquist makes a difference

When I asked Shawn Sundquist, a three-sport athlete, what his favorite sport is, I got silence.

A lot of silence.

Sundquist was hesitating because he just couldn't decide, couldn't make up his mind.

Football? Basketball? Baseball? The Wauconda junior likes them all.

(A tight end for the 1-1 Bulldogs, and perhaps living slightly in the moment, Sundquist eventually said football, by the way.)

Then, I asked Sundquist if he'd ever again do what he did a few months ago, back on Memorial Day.

That would be: jump out of his own car, sprint to a car that was in a ditch and literally on fire and use his bare hands to break out a window to help pull out a driver who was bleeding everywhere and in need of serious help. A driver, by the way, that he didn't even know.

I barely got the entire question out.

There was no hemming and hawing this time.

Sundquist, who got cuts and scratches up and down his arms from the broken windows, couldn't have been more sure of himself.

"Of course. I would," Sundquist said with a firm voice. "Without hesitation. I would help anyone."

That answer, and the fact that Sundquist has actually proven that he doesn't just talk the talk, but that he also walks the walk, makes Wauconda football coach Dave Mills prouder than any victory.

Contributing on the football field is what he and his staff teach their players every day at practice. But the complementary message is that as role models in the community, Wauconda's football players should also strive to contribute in life.

"When I heard about what Shawn did, and I had to hear about it from another parent because he didn't say a word about it, it put a big smile on my face," Mills said. "We're always talking about doing the right thing, helping out, contributing in the community. It's a life lesson. We get our players to shovel snow each winter at a senior citizen home. Things like that.

"When an opportunity presents itself and you have the skills to make a difference, well, then make a difference."

Sundquist, who had just gotten his driver's permit and was out driving with his mother when he saw a big burst of smoke coming from a wooded area, tried his best to make a difference that fateful day.

Along with a few adults who had also rushed to the eerie scene along Anderson Road in Wauconda, Sundquist tried to make a difference for a man who lost control of his car and hit a tree. The tree had fallen over.

"The guy was bleeding a lot from his mouth," Sundquist said. "I tried to talk to him, but he was kind of gurgling. We weren't scared. We were all just hurrying."

Rushing to beat not only a potential explosion, but also the flames of the fire, which were moving steadily from the engine toward the interior of the car, Sundquist and the rest of the Good Samaritans got the man about halfway out of the car before emergency responders arrived at the scene.

But, the 48-year-old man, a father and a neighbor of one of Sundquist's friends, wound up dying later that day.

"It made me really sad when I heard he died," Sundquist said. "I heard about how he had kids and everything. I kind of felt like we had let down his family. I just felt really bad."

But at the same time, Sundquist felt good about himself. He felt pride in trying to selflessly do the right thing.

It wasn't the first time.

Amazingly, Sundquist was involved in a similar situation just months before. He and his father were driving on Interstate 94 when they saw a car hit a divider and do a 180-degree flip.

They stopped to make sure the driver was OK.

"I felt like we had to stop, kind of like how I felt we had to stop for this other guy," Sundquist said. "I think I thought about the risks that day, but I think I also thought about what I've learned from all my coaches, like Coach Mills. You need to be out there living your life to the fullest, and if you can help someone in trouble, you should.

"I guess I could have gotten hurt that day, but who knows how much longer I'll be playing football anyway. I'll want to be a good person for the rest of my life."

Sundquist is off to an excellent start.

"Shawn has picked up so many good habits from football and sports," Sundquist's mother Mary said. "He's got coaches like Coach Mills who are always teaching the kids about community support and giving back.

"My heart was racing that day when we came up to that accident. But I knew we should stop and I knew Shawn wanted to stop. I was really worried, and when I saw Shawn's arms bleeding, I was like 'Oh my God!' But I am just so proud of him."

We all should be.

Another Wauconda hero: Amazingly enough, another member of the Wauconda football family was involved in a similar life or death situation this summer.

Chris Wuebben, a former offensive and defensive lineman for the Bulldogs who graduated about four years ago, is living in Colorado after having served in the military as a medic.

To make extra money while he looks for a job as an emergency medical technician, Wuebben delivers pizzas.

One day in July, Wuebben arrived at a house to make a delivery and was greeted by a panicked woman who told him she was trying to call 911 because her husband suddenly wasn't breathing and had no pulse.

Wuebben didn't give a second thought and immediately began to administer CPR to the man.

The man is now alive and well.

"Chris's story made CNN and everything," Mills said. "Amazing. And Chris is just like Shawn (Sundquist). He doesn't like making a big deal of it. He's just very humble about being a hero."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

Wauconda tight end Shawn Sundquist grasps the importance of helping others. Bob Chwedyk | Staff Photographer
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