Governor honors Mertzon UM for firefighting service

Wesley Mosher receives
Star of Texas Award
during Capitol event

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Their year didn’t begin well.
Wesley and Shelly Mosher attended a midnight New Year’s Eve service at First UMC, Mertzon, where Wes is a lay leader.
Just hours later, as they were dressing for church the next morning, Wes’ beeper—a necessary component of his volunteer work as a county firefighter and an Emergency Medical Services responder—sounded.
Instead of church clothes, Wes put on his yellow firefighter suit.
“I remember thinking, things will never be the same after today,” Shelly said.
She chalks that up to women’s intuition.
Shelly kissed her husband goodbye and drove herself to church. Wes climbed aboard a fire truck and headed toward a brush fire.
> > >
Fires in Irion County are almost always dangerous because of its rural expanse, Shelly said. A tiny brush fire can explode into a massive blaze in mere minutes.
That’s what happened that New Year’s Day.
Wes’ bravery battling the fire earned him the governor’s Star of Texas Award, an honor issued annually for peace officers, firefighters and emergency medical first responders seriously injured or killed in the line of duty.
He was one of 49 Texans chosen by Gov. Rick Perry to receive this year’s award.
> > >
It surprised Shelly when she returned to an empty house after church. She remembers feeling annoyed that no messages—or her husband—awaited her.
She prepared the biggest lunch she’d ever had—her form of defiance, she said. She tried to convince herself she didn’t care that Wes wasn’t home to enjoy it with her.
Then Shelly began to clean her house.
She stopped at about 1:30 p.m., when, she said, an overwhelming urge to pray replaced her stifled fear.
> > >
It happened so fast.
Wes was perched on top of the fire truck, driven toward the “fast-moving fire” by his good friend, County Judge Leon Standard. Both were trying to lay down a line of containment to prevent the flames from spreading farther.
The truck stalled when the fire sucked all the oxygen from the engine.
Before he knew it, Wes said, the two firefighters were surrounded by flames—beneath the truck, on the back and both sides.
He said he curled into a ball and pointed the water hose toward his body, fully intending to ride the fire out. But the gas-powered pump on the back of the truck—which keeps the hose spraying water—stopped working.
Wes said he saw only one way out—straight through the flames.
He told Standard it was time to bail out, then began to run, hands covering his face from the heat. He said he sensed hands on his shoulder blades, guiding him in the right direction. He saw firefighting teams racing past him and wondered if he were dead.
> > >
Shelly had just finished cleaning the bathroom sink when the ringing phone startled her. It was 2:15 p.m.
The sheriff’s deputy was on the line. His voice sounded shaky as he told her that Wes had been burned, Shelly said.
“At first I felt amazing disbelief because he’s always so careful,” she said. “He’s had lots of training on what to do. All sorts of things were going through my mind.
“But my mom taught me how to react in a crisis—to react quickly and calmly but with confidence and not fear. I just knew that God would take care of him and that I would get there as soon as I could.”
Shelly left her house at 2:30 p.m. and headed for the hospital in Big Lake.
> > >
With second-degree burns like the ones Wes sustained, the body’s response is to pump fluid to the damaged area, Shelly said. By the time she reached the hospital, Wes’ face had begun to swell.
But she was just happy to see him.
Wes was transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center’s burn unit in San Antonio because he was burned on his face and hands, which are considered critical areas, Shelly said.
When the couple arrived at the Army hospital, Shelly said she couldn’t see Wes’ nose for the swelling.
He could see nothing at all.
The ophthalmologist at BAMC couldn’t find his cornea because his eyes were so badly burned and scratched, Shelly said.
“I was frightened for him,” she said. “My dad was a Methodist preacher, and he went blind when I was a kid. I knew what it would mean.”
Wes wasn’t afraid.
“I knew I would be all right,” he said.
> > >
Two and a half days later, doctors at BAMC released Wes because his burns were healing so well.
“Burn victims don’t normally go into the burn unit and stay for only two and a half days,” Shelly said. “He just healed amazingly.”
Doctors offered Wes no promise of his sight returning.
He became completely dependent on Shelly for food, baths, everyday functions. Wes said it was a difficult time for him. But after two weeks, his sight gradually returned.
> > >
Wes received the Star of Texas Award from Perry Sept. 11 in the House of Representatives chamber at the Capitol in Austin.
“It was surprising and shocking to get this award,” Wes said. “But it is very humbling and a great honor.”
He plans to frame the certificate, he said.
Standard nominated Wes for the award.
“He was out there volunteering his time to fight a fire—a huge fire—and he got hurt in it,” Standard said. “He’s a good person.”
> > >
Wes’ recovery has taken time, Shelly said.
He’s had one skin graft under his eye because the scar tissue pulled down his lower eyelid. He uses drops in his eye every day because of possible damage to his tear ducts.
For weeks after the burn, Shelly said she had to scrape all the dead skin cells off Wes’ face and out of his ears.
His skin is still very thin, Shelly said. He’ll have to wear sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses outdoors for the rest of his life.
“But he looks great,” she said. “You can hardly tell that he’s been burned.”
Wes returned to his job as an electrician but has yet to rejoin the volunteer fire department. He said he is respecting his wife’s wishes.
> > >
Blessing has brightened their trial.
Shelly has been amazed by the love of her church community. It has proved that the “body of Christ is still alive today,” she said.
She and Wes didn’t worry about hospital bills, any part of his recovery or the chores they needed done at home.
Her relationship with Wes has grown stronger because of his injury, Shelly said.
And then there’s her pregnancy. After 18 years of trying, this baby has become their miracle.
“I’m more excited about that than I was getting the award,” Wes said.
For them, knowing what has met them on the other side has made their journey through the flames worth every second.