EAST LANSING, Mich. – A Michigan Conservation Officer was recognized last week for saving the life of a hunter who accidentally shot himself last November.
Ben Lasher of St. Clair County was honored at the May 12 Natural Resources Commission meeting in East Lansing for the save that happened on opening day of the 2015 firearm deer season.
According to the DNR, Lasher received a call about a hunting accident in a wooded area outside the village of Adair in St. Clair County. A friend of the victim met Lasher, along with a deputy from the sheriff’s office, at the end of a narrow two-track road. Lasher drove his truck to within 75 yards of the victim, but couldn’t get their vehicle any closer.
The victim, a 30-year-old man with a 12-guage shotgun wound in his leg, and his friend had gotten a tie-down strap on his leg to slow the bleeding. Lasher removed the strap and applied a “combat application tourniquet” to above the wound. After getting the man back into his vehicle, Lasher was able to drive the man back to where an ambulance could access the scene.
Lasher was presented with the Lifesaving Award by the DNR.
“We were told by medical personnel that Officer Lasher’s well-placed tourniquet and expedited transport to the ambulance saved this man’s life,” said DNR Law Enforcement Division Chief GaryHagler in a press release.
Lasher has served the state as a conservation officer for 20 years. In 1996, he began his career in Arenac County where he remained until 2005. He has served in St. Clair County for the past 11 years.
