DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Chapter of the American Red Cross held its Heroes of the Heartland breakfast Tuesday morning in Altoona.

During the event at Prairie Meadows, four awards were handed out to Iowans who went above and beyond to help their fellow Iowans. The honorees were nominated by their peers and the public, and they were selected by a committee of Red Cross leaders and community members.

One woman says it was an honor just to be nominated for what she did in Greenfield after the tornado hit the town last year.

“I was surprised we were being recognized because like I said, we just thought we were doing our job. We do injury prevention work every day, and we don’t do that kind of work for any type of recognition. There’s not a lot of data always that show like, oh, you prevented this or that. We hope that those numbers exist, we just don’t get to see that. So to be recognized was it’s truly an honor,” said Katy Sowden, part of Blank Children’s Advocacy and Outreach.

Another recipient was a West Des Moines Hy-Vee pharmacy manager. Back in October, Sharlett Patterson was working at the Mills Civic Hy-Vee when a customer collapsed. When Patterson couldn’t find a pulse, she began CPR, doing chest compressions for six minutes. She also used a portable defibrillator three times while waiting for first responders to arrive.

Patterson called the experience surreal.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that before. I got trained for it. But real-world experience is a lot different than the training room. And so, at the end of the day, I’m just grateful that he’s still with us.”

According to paramedics, her quick-thinking actions saved the customer’s life.

Also honored by the American Red Cross were the volunteers who made the Brushy Creek Honor Flight possible and Dave Tolander, a man who saved his friend’s life after he suffered a medical emergency while the two were fishing.