Gwen Rhodes

Autism Light #188 is Gwen Rhodes.

Gwen Rhodes is the principal at the Gonic School in Rochester, New Hampshire.  On Wednesday, January 25, 2012, a 10 year old student of hers named Andrew Brown had wandered away from the school into the nearby Cocheco River. Andrew Brown also has autism. Gwen Rhodes jumped into the icy Cocheco River to save Andrew Brown. Gwen Rhodes is an Autism Light for having the quick thinking to save a student with autism in an icy river, even though it meant putting herself at risk.

Gwen Rhodes was reluctant to be labeled a hero.  She said, "This is just something that was a circumstance and you did what you needed to do when the circumstance happened, but what we do every day is what makes people that work in schools heroes (Source)."

Gwen Rhodes may not want to be labled a hero but she is one to Andrew's father Chris Brown, who said, "She’s a hero to me and I’ve always said she’s like a second mom (Source)."

The following is a news story from the event done by WBZ-TV in Boston.





For more information on this heroic story view these online articles.

• Brave Principal Dives Into Icy River to Save Autistic 10 Year Old Student
• Principal Saves 10 Year Old Student from Icy New Hampshire River

Special thanks to Gwen Rhodes for being an Autism Light for a student that had wandered into harms way. Thankfully we won't know what may have happened if Gwen Rhodes hadn't dived into the icy river after Andrew Brown. As the first school principal to be an Autism Light, Gwen Rhodes is representative of administrators who are diligent in their task of protecting children, especially those with autism and special needs.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.