Seneca Valley Teacher Pulling Through After Plunge into Connoquenessing Creek
Leo Stefanacci’s wife, Kelly, thanks four teenage firefighters for discovering the car—and saving her husband’s life.
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Seneca Valley teacher Henry “Leo” Stefanacci is expected to make a full recovery after the car he was driving plunged into the Connoquenessing Creek in Zelienople Sunday night.
“I really do believe the prayers are working,” said Kelly Stefanacci, Leo Stefanacci’s wife. “He’s not out of the woods yet, but he’s much more alert today.”
Kelly Stefanacci said her husband, a popular learning support teacher at Seneca Valley Middle School in Jackson Township, is suffering from hypothermia, but does not have any damage to his heart or brain.
He remains in the critical care unit at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, she said.
A father of two daughters, Stefanacci, a Zelienople resident, was flown by medical helicopter to the hospital after firefighters pulled him from his vehicle, which was submerged upside down in the creek near the canoe launch off Halstead Boulevard.
Zelienople Police Chief Jim Miller said Stefanacci was driving north on the road, located behind an industrial park, when he lost control of the car at a bend in the road and skidded into the water.
Police are still investigating what caused him to leave the pavement, he said.
The Teen Heroes
After noticing fresh car tracks in the snow leading to the water, four teenagers on their way to the Burger King in Harmony to grab a meal with friends discovered Stefanacci’s car in the creek and dialed 9-1-1.
The teens, Zack Madaffari, 19, twins Josh and Nick Spiegel, 18 and Aimee Scholl, 18, are all volunteer firefighters with area departments, according to Zack’s mom, Jill Madaffari.
Madaffari and the Speigels are recent Seneca Valley graduates. Scholl currently is a student at the high school.
“I’m just proud of them all. They’re such a close group of kids,” Jill Madaffari said. “I’m just glad they were at there at the right place at the right time.”
Kelly Stefanacci called the teens her heroes.
“They are the ones who I personally want to call and thank,” she said. “They are the ones who started the miracle.”
Kelly Stefanacci also credited the quick work of area firefighters for saving her husband’s life.
Rescue and Recovery
Zelienople Fire Chief Rob Reeb said volunteers from Team 300, Butler County’s water rescue team, pulled Stefanacci from the water using Hurst Tools, better known as the Jaws of Life, to pry open the car.
While firefighters worked to open the door, other volunteers reached through the window of the car to hold Stefanacci’s head above water, allowing him to breathe until they were able to pull him from the wreckage, Reeb said.
Since the accident, Kelly Stefanacci, a first-grade teacher at Connoquenessing Elementary in the Butler Area School District, said she has been barraged by phone calls from well wishers.
Although Stefanacci is unable to talk because there is a treatment tube in his throat, his wife said she is hopeful the tube will be removed soon. Already, Stefanacci is trying to communicate with her through writing notes, she said.
“It’s a miracle,” she said.
People are asked not to call the hospital to check on Stefanacci because it interrupts treatment in the ICU unit, Kelly Stefanacci said. Instead, leave a message of support for Stefanacci in the comment section below.
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In This article
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Seneca Valley Middle School
122 Seneca School Rd, Harmony, PA -
Zelienople Boro
111 W New Castle St, Zelienople, PA -
Seneca Valley Senior High School
128 Seneca School Rd, Harmony, PA
Alison Moze
6:51 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Mr. Stefanacci,
You are in my prayers for a quick recovery. I am hoping to see you back at school soon. I can only hope this small note may offer you some comfort as you did for me on the way home last year after breaking my arm.
Get well soon,
Brady Moze
Dawn Welding
7:16 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Kelly, Leo and girls,
Our prayers are with you along with your neighbors and Calvin family. We wish you all well and for a fast recovery for Leo. If you anything gives us a call!
Love, The Efaws & Welding's
Roberto Murra
7:41 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Mr. Stefanacci,
I hope to see you soon again smiling in all the ski trips where I take my daughter Maria. My positive energy is with you.
As you rest and heal, know that you are thought of warmly and wished a quick recovery!
Best,
Roberto Murra
Judy Wehr
8:55 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Kelly,
We're so happy to hear that Leo is improving rapidly. Our continued prayers are with you all.
The Wehr family (Calvin Church)
Marcy latess
9:29 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Leo and family.....
My prayers are with you all. Wishing you a fast recovery and your back on your feet soon. I Want to come visit you soon ....so get better real quick. If you would need anything I'm always here.
Thinking of you......
Marcy Latess and family
Sean Fitzpatrick
10:33 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Hey Leo, your friends and classmates from Ambridge are praying for you, and wishing you a quick recovery!! Looking forward to seing you in September at the reunion. God Bless You!!
Sean Fitzpatrick
Jimmy Santry
10:43 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Leo, I am very glad to hear you will make a full recovery and I look forward to hanging out with you in the near future! God Bless buddy!
Jimmy Santry
Cindy Ricker
10:40 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Thinking and praying....Kelly give Leo a hug from all of us here in NC and Ohio...We love you all.....Cousin Cindy
Melissa Gaguzis
12:04 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Wishing you a speedy recovery! Praying for you and your family!
The Gaguzis Family
Debra Allen
12:15 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Everyone at St. Gregory is praying for you and your family. We are so glad to hear he is recovering well. Thanks God for allowing those four young heroes to be in the right place at the right time!
Sam
12:32 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Hope you feel better. I go to SVMS and the Stefanacci's church. They are great people and I pray for a fast recovery.
Alissa Stefanacci
11:05 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Leo,Kelly and girls,
Dennis and I send our love and prayers your way. God is good !!!
Dennis and Alissa Stefanacci
Gregory Hayward
12:53 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Leo....Wishing you a speedy recovery. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family!!!!
Henry Leo Stefanacci
12:46 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
Im alive and well by the grace of God and the power of prayer!! I want to thank everyone and anyone for everything!!! don't know where to start...but just know that your love and support has given my girls back their dad and I
plan on seeing them live their dreams!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL
Johnny Schmidt
9:59 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013
Stay tough Leo. Praying hard for ya! Get well soon
David Burlett
9:15 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
Hang tough Leo, we love you. Hope someone does a mentally ill check on city skeptic! David and Marcie Burlett.
Fantasy Internet friend
8:01 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
You'd better not miss the draft Leo
Giacomo
10:19 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
Leo, the comment made by city skeptic was insensitive and inappropriate. We know you're a responsible person. Now, in order to make the most out of a very bad moment, and to convert it into a learning moment, I hope you can share lessons learned with the community and especially with the young people in your classes and in the ski club, who will be getting licenses in the not so distant future (my son, among them). If it happened to Mr. Stefanacci, "it could happen to YOU and YOU and YOU, too!" Please share your experiences and your lesson learned, and all will be better off. Thanks!
Henry Leo Stefanacci
9:26 pm on Friday, March 15, 2013
That is my first order of business. I plan on getting to school (sooner rather than later) and share my experiences. I feel that is what God has planned for me along with watching my girls grow up into responsible young women!!! Thank you for your support and prayer. If anyone out there is a non-believer, I am proof that the grace of God is out there for all of us to share!!!!!! Love you all!!!!!
.
Trina
1:59 pm on Friday, March 15, 2013
I would like to say as a parent of a student who had Mr. Stefanacci I am so glad your doing ok and we prayed and prayed daily that you would be ok. You have touched so many lives and probably don't realize it. You have touched our families lives by the way you took good care of our daughter Krista in school. You are one of those teachers that you never forget as you go forward she will always have great memories of a wonderful teacher. As you know their is always one person that has to be rude but remember this what goes around comes around and Karma will strike sooner or later. No matter what you keep going forward and get back to teaching the kids I am sure they miss you! We wish you the best in your recovery. The Loesch Family!
Mike
4:10 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
Hi! This is Taylor Simmons. I used to be one of Mr. Stefanacci's students in 7th grade until I moved to Canonsburg with my father ( Canon McMillan School District ). This surprised everyone, including me. He was such an inspiration to everyone. He was such a great math teacher, always nice to everybody. This touched me so much in many ways. I now know that God has reasons for everything, and when its our turn to face the unthinkable. I will keep you both in my prayers. I wish you well and the best of luck in your recovery.
Rance Lochbaum
11:33 pm on Sunday, March 31, 2013
Prayers for a full recovery Leo !