2 Local Police Officers Honored For Saving Man’s Life

Two Putnam County Police Officers were honored for preventing a man from committing suicide.

At a ceremony held at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith officially honored Sergeant Timothy Keith and Deputy Sheriff Daniel Hunsberger with conferred Sheriff’s Commendation Medals and uniform award ribbons.

“Because of the heroic actions of Sgt. Keith and Deputy Hunsberger, another human being has been given a second chance at life,” Smith said in a press release. “For that we are all very grateful and proud.”

According to the Sheriff’s Office, on November 25, 2015 the two officers saved the life of a despondent 53-year-old man who tried to hang himself outside his Southeast home.

Keith and Hunsberger were dispatched to the man’s home after the Sheriff’s Office received a third-party request to check on his welfare. As they approached the home they noticed the man standing on a ladder alongside the garage, with a metal cable looped around his neck and attached to the garage roof. They tried to talk the man down, but he jumped off the ladder and began to be strangled by the cable noose.

Keith and Hunsberger reacted instantly and ran up the ladder to support the man’s weight. The man resisted and tried to push them away. The pair weren’t able to loosen or cut the cable, but they did manage to use brute force to break the roof support that the cable was attached to. As the cable detached from the roof, all three men fell hard to the ground.

The two disregarded their own injuries and removed the noose from the man’s neck and began to administer emergency first aid.

The man was transported to Danbury Hospital for further evaluation and treatment. The Keith and Hunsberger were later treated at Putnam Hospital Center for their injuries and released the same evening.