Perry County deputy honored after saving man’s life

HAZARD, Ky. (WTVQ) – Perry County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Campbell was honored Monday with the Life Saving and Meritorious Service Awards after saving a man’s life, according to a post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page.

Sheriff Joe Engle says Deputy Campbell responded to a call of a young man having a mental health emergency. When Deputy Campbell arrived on the scene, he found a young man hanging from a tree in the woods behind the man’s home, according to the social media post.

The young man was minutes away from death, according to the Facebook post. Deputy Campbell couldn’t lift the man high enough to get him down, so he had the man stand on his back until a family member arrived with a knife to help Deputy Campbell cut the young man down. Deputy Campbell’s quick thinking and reaction saved the man’s life, according to the social media post.

Deputy Campbell comforted the man and encouraged him throughout the crisis while waiting for help to arrive, according to the post.

Deputy Campbell is a cancer survivor himself, according to the Facebook post.