A pair of Chatham-Kent police officers are being recognized for their brave actions, which helped to save the life of a suicidal man.
Constables Mike Van Kesteren and Jayme O’Reilly have received a citation from the Chatham-Kent Police Services Board for helping to rescue a man who had attempted to take his own life near Merlin in February 2021.
According to a report, the man had left a note of his intentions, leading police to conduct a missing person investigation. He was later located by emergency crews on an ice-covered beach at the bottom of an 80-100 foot high cliff, wearing only jeans and a t-shirt.
Van Kesteren and O’Reilly, who were the two responding officers at the scene, located a rope and repelled down the cliff to the beach knowing that time was of the essence to render medical assistance and treatment to the man.
Emergency crews lowered blankets and makeshift heating apparatuses to the officers, which they used to apply first aid to the man who had sustained multiple injuries and was suffering hypothermia.
The U.S. Coast Guard was able to attend the scene near Lake Erie and transport the man to an Ornge helicopter that had landed nearby. He was then airlifted to a hospital in London to be treated for an orbital bone fracture, a vertebrae fracture, along with severe hypothermia.
Randy Moore, the acting station chief with Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services, commended the officers for their actions.
“[I] just wanted to acknowledge the bravery of the officers who risked their own lives to offer support to the young man,” he said. “Their actions saved this guy’s life.”
