Man who hanged himself in woods was minutes from death when a KY deputy saved him
A Kentucky sheriff’s deputy is being credited with quick thinking that saved the life of a young man who hanged himself in the woods during a mental health crisis Monday.
Perry County Deputy Paul Campbell found the young man “hanging from a tree minutes from his death,” Sheriff Joe Engle wrote in a Facebook post. Campbell had the man stand on his back until a relative of the man arrived with a knife, the sheriff wrote.
The suicidal man had gone into the woods behind his home, and when Campbell, “who has survived cancer himself,” responded to the scene and found him, he was not able to lift the man “up high enough to remove him,” Engle wrote.
“Not only did Campbell save his life, but comforted the young man and encouraged him all through this moment of crisis while they were awaiting for help to arrive,” Engle wrote.
Engle said he is awarding Campbell the “Life Saving and Meritorious Service Awards for his life saving and heroic actions that saved this young man’s life.”
“It is these men that see and do things they can never unsee to hold that thin line for the people in this county they serve,” the sheriff wrote. “I cannot be more proud of Paul Campbell and every other deputy that puts that uniform on daily for this county.”
The sheriff’s department’s Facebook post had been shared 500 times within hours of being posted Monday afternoon.
