An expensive act of heroism An expensive act of heroism (March 04, 2005)

Good Samaritan may be punished by insurance company

By Jon Wiener

Herm Gilmore was dressed like a cowboy last Halloween, but he wound up acting like a superhero.

Driving to a party at a friend's house on Oct. 29, he noticed a Toyota Camry in front of him drifting through the red light on San Antonio Road at California Street. While it traveled into oncoming traffic, he saw a 11-year-old boy in the passenger seat waving his arms and crying for help.

Behind the wheel of the Camry, Swarnapali Seneviratna was having an uncontrollable seizure. Her son had managed to pull her foot off of the gas pedal, but she had already bumped into another vehicle and was heading straight for a bus. Gilmore, faced with a split-second decision, sped up and made a U-turn in his Chevy Blazer, letting the runaway car slam into his truck at about 15 miles per hour.

"I just knew that someone was about to be killed, and I was trying to stop that," Gilmore said.

But Gilmore wasn't done. After sustaining the impact of the crash, he pulled Seneviratna, still in the throes of a seizure, out of the car and administered first aid while his passenger Matt Samet, who was dressed as a scuba diver, phoned for help.

Gilmore, 37, has since moved from Mountain View to Redwood City and has had no contact with Seneviratna. But last week he received a proclamation from the Mountain View City Council in recognition of his "selfless bravery" and "for exhibiting the caring and kindness that characterizes the spirit of Mountain View."

He said he was shocked that he would receive any kind of award for his actions. "If I'm ever in a situation like that, I hope that somebody would do the same for me," said Gilmore.

Samet said that Gilmore's action were entirely in character.

"There are not a lot of people today that would risk their car and personal safety to help out somebody else in need," said Samet. "I wasn't surprised at all that he would do something like that."

But life-saving acts don't come for free these days. Gilmore estimated the damage to his truck, now in the shop with a cracked transmission and dented shocks, at $8,500. And since Seneviratna's insurance company, 21st Century, is refusing to pay for it, Gilmore expects his own insurance premium to start shooting up.

"The (insurance) agent said, 'You should have let her hit the bus,'" said Gilmore.

Seneviratna was happy to hear that Gilmore had received an award, but said she had no idea he had been having problems with her insurance company. She said she plans to contact him to see if she can help resolve the issue.

Gilmore's insurance agent, Donna Clark, said 21st Century's stance is surprising, given that he likely prevented something far worse (and more expensive) from happening. She was planning to call a supervisor at 21st Century on Wednesday, after the Voice's press time.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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