"My motherly instincts just kicked in" - good Samaritan saves injured motorist

‘My motherly instincts just kicked in.’ that’s what a mother of two who selflessly helped an injured service member lying face down on a busy road while others passed by him said as she was recognized by the Attorney General’s Office for her good deed. 

"I was just doing what my motherly instincts; I think just kicked in and had me do in that moment," recalled Debra Bute. She was driving to work at Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz in Dededo when she noticed cars trying to avoid something on the busy road. It was still dark in the early morning hours just before 6am on August 23, so she couldn’t quite tell what the commotion was. 

"As the cars stopped, my assumption was that it was maybe an animal and they were just going around it. But when I came up on it, it was clearly a human being," she continued. It was an injured young airman lying face down in the middle of the road after crashing on his motorcycle. 

The mother of two quickly took action. 

She turned on her hazard lights, blocked off traffic with her car, checked his injuries, flagged down a bystander to call 911 and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived. Her selfless act was recognized by the AG's Office on Tuesday with the Good Samaritan Award, the second such time the honor has been given this year. 

"A little overwhelmed right now," Bute said. "But just grateful the airman is safe and well and that nothing more serious happened to him."

In a social media post, 36th Wing Commander Brigadier General Thomas Pelenske says the servicemember crashed after a car cut him off.  The driver fled from the scene. 

While the incident happened last month, Bute says it's still ‘very fresh’ in her mind. She lost her nephew to a car accident just earlier this year.

"I have some other emotions going on because I had lost my nephew a few months ago so it was just - they seemed to be just so close in age which is kind of just emotional for me right now," she said.

She says she’s thankful for being able to be in the right place at the right time for the young airman. "It could have been my son or child. I’m just thankful that he’s good and he's safe," she said.

Her son Jackson and daughter Olivia certainly proud to have her as their role model, saying proudly, "I am so happy she’s my mommy."