MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A Monongalia County sheriff’s deputy who saved the life of a motorist two weeks ago has been recognized by state lawmakers.
Deputy Steve Pierre received a citation from the House of Delegates and another from the state Senate Friday.
At shortly after noon on Sept. 5, Pierre responded to a car crash on Cheat Road and found the vehicle on its side with the driver standing outside. Mon EMS responded as well, but the victim, who had a recent medical procedure, refused care, and the EMTs left. Immediately following their departure, the victim collapsed, and Pierre jumped into action.
“I ran over to him and yelled his name a couple of times, and he was unresponsive. His face turned flush and blue,” Pierre said. “There was nothing there, and the one thing that gave me chills was that I thought he was gone.”
Pierre began to assess the victim while trying to wake him up. At that point, Pierre said his training kicked in and began performing CPR and called EMS back to the scene. Pierre said just a week before the incident deputies had gone through a CPR refresher course.
“I rolled him over and yelled his name a couple of times, and there was nothing,” Pierre said. “He just kind of let go and looked like he was having a seizure.”
Pierre continued his efforts until EMS returned and transported the victim to the hospital. The victim has since returned home and is doing much better.
“I let dispatch know what was going on, and then the medical staff came back and did their lifesaving efforts along with mine,” Pierre said.
Pierre said at some point he plans to visit with the victim to find out how he’s doing in the near future. Three years ago Pierre was a police officer in the state of Florida before being recruited to come to Monongalia County by Sheriff Todd Forbes.
“I was there in the right place at the right time,” Pierre said. “I do this job not just to put bad people in jail but I care about people at the same time. I’m compassionate, and I care about people.”
The citations were presented in a brief ceremony Friday by Monongalia County Delegates Geno Chiarelli and David McCormick and state Senator Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia.