MoDOT Maintenance Supervisor David Winship always seems to be in the right place and at the right time to help someone in need, and Monday, Dec. 30, was no different.
Customer Service Representative Sherita White received a call from distraught motorist Jillian whose wedding ring had slipped off her finger and out her car window onto the roadside while she was driving on Highway 169 in Platte County. White then called Winship asking if he could help.
Winship headed to the location and parked a couple hundred yards behind the woman on the roadside to start the process of looking for the ring. As he stepped out of the truck and looked between his feet, he found the ring.
“I just happened to look down and standing right between my feet was her wedding band and engagement ring,” Winship said.
Although Jillian thanked Winship at the scene for finding the ring for her, Winship’s supervisor and co-workers thought it would be nice to do a little something extra for him and surprised him with a little ring ceremony on Friday, Jan. 10.
“I have always felt blessed to know and work with him,” Maintenance Superintendent Deloris Goetz said. “These things only happen to Dave.”
District Maintenance Engineer Lynelle Luther spoke at Winship’s ring ceremony on Jan. 10.
“This is part of the customer service that we deal with on a daily basis,” Luther said. “We can’t recognize everything but it’s good to take a moment to celebrate when something happens.”
Winship has been with MoDOT for the past 10 years and during that time, he has saved numerous lives.
Winship once pulled a driver from a burning vehicle. He also revived an unconscious man who had driven off the road in a work zone during a diabetic sugar low.
And in March 2018 Winship helped a woman escape a wrecked vehicle that had rolled over during a snowstorm, then climbed into it to stabilize the other motorist and stay with him until paramedics arrived.
“It’s always good to have someone to be with you in those types of events,” Winship said.
He has received three Meritorious Safety Awards from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission since 2009 – the most recent in March 2018.
Winship also received State Employee of the Month in February 2015.