AZ deputy saves child, earns medal

Prior to the start of the regular meeting Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Mark Terry was presented with the Medal of Distinction by PCSO Chief Deputy Jerry Monahan.

On Nov. 15, deputies responded to an address in Queen Creek where a woman had found a man unconscious in a vehicle in the garage. Terry found the man committed suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide fumes. He then heard the woman’s screams from inside the home. He rushed in and found a 4-year-old child unconscious from the fumes that had seeped in from the attached garage. He began CPR compressions and got the child breathing just as EMS arrived.

“We could detect the fumes when we approached the garage,” Terry said. “The vehicle must have been running for hours because the fumes were very strong, and we discovered that the gas tank was nearly empty. We all had headaches for several hours after the call.”

Terry added that the consensus was that the man’s death was deliberate, but the effect his suicide method had on the child was unintentional.