NHP to recognize Fernley girl as hero

An 8-year-old Fernley girl is being hailed as a hero for rescuing her sister in a traffic accident west of Fallon last month.

The Nevada Highway Patrol will recognize Rylee Sweetser during a ceremony today at East Valley Elementary School. The NHP said her determination to save her family “outweighed her own fear.”

Sweetser, her brother and sister were passengers in an SUV driven by their mother, Jamie Sweetser, that was struck Aug. 14 by another vehicle on U.S. Highway 50 at the Sheckler Cut-off.

The SUV rolled onto its roof and the mother crawled out a side window but couldn’t get any doors open so she pulled out the rear window.

Hanging upside down, Rylee unhooked her own seat belt then helped her sister to safety before heading back to help her brother.

Moments after the two vehicles collided, and while both were still in motion, one vehicle then struck Nevada Department of Transportation employee Michael D. Spanier of Hawthorne. He had been walking while performing roadway maintenance and sustained serious injuries in the accident while the six injuries ranged from nearly none to minor in nature.