Samsung Announces Mobile
Phone Samaritan Contest Winners

Winners Receive the Prestigious Honor of Carrying the Olympic Torch in San Francisco

Samsung, Presenting Partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay, is rewarding five Samsung Mobile Phone Samaritans with the opportunity of a lifetime to carry the Olympic Torch during its only U.S. stop this April in San Francisco.
The Samsung Mobile Phone Samaritan program allows for Samsung to reward individuals who have helped others by using a mobile phone to call for help. A panel of judges selected five winning entries awarding them with an opportunity to serve as Olympic Torchbearers in San Francisco.
Bill Schmidt
While on his way home from visiting family in Milwaukee, Bill Schmidt, of Chesterfield, Mo., recalls the terrible weather as the roads went from bad to worse just before an SUV flipped several times. Schmidt's fast reaction to stop, assess the situation and call 911 saved the lives of three passengers and earned him the opportunity to be a Samsung Mobile Phone Samaritan.
"I saw the car flip and I didn't even think,"said Schmidt. "My wife called 911 while I jumped out of my car and ran across the median to help the family."Schmidt pulled the mother and daughter free from the car, but the father was pinned. Rather than leaving the father alone in the car, Schmidt laid down on the frozen ground to talk to the man and let him know that help was coming and that his wife and daughter were safe.
Richard Doran
After using his mobile phone on Sept. 11, 2001, to let his wife know he was alive, NYC Firefighter Richard Doran didn't realize that mobile phones would be an essential tool to link those who were lost to their loved ones on that tragic day.
Doran plans to dedicate his run carrying the Olympic Torch to memorialize the fallen firefighters from 9/11. "The last 343 steps I take during the Olympic Torch Relay will be in honor of the 343 firefighters that we lost on that tragic day,"said Doran. nw