Cliff Rescue Earns Mohican Park Officer
Highest Lifesaving Honor
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October 31, 2007
Columbus, OH – A daring cliff rescue last summer has earned
Jerry Cunningham, a park officer at Mohican State Park in Ashland
County, the state park system’s Meritorious Lifesaving Award.
Cunningham is the seventh person to receive the award since the
recognition was initiated in 1994.
The meritorious award is the highest lifesaving honor presented to
state park staff or others. It recognizes voluntary actions to save
or attempt to save the life of another, while disregarding personal
risk to an extraordinary degree.
While on patrol in the park on June 18, Officer Cunningham, along
with Malabar Farm State Park Assistant Manager Jason Wesley,
responded to a report that a car had plunged over the cliff at
Mohican State Park’s Gorge Overlook. The vehicle was resting on its
top midway down the 300-foot cliff face.
(Continued below) |
Chief Dan West, Officer Cunningham, State Forest Officer Matt
Rogers, Loundonville Police Chief Scott Shoudt, Loudonville Fire/EMS
Chief Tom Gallagher |
Officer Cunningham rappelled 135 feet from the top of the gorge to
find the car teetering upside down on its crushed roof. He dug dirt
and stone from the side of the car in order to reach the injured
driver. Rescue personnel then rappelled down to assist in
stabilizing the victim and pulling him back to the top of the gorge.
Among those who assisted at the scene were Mohican State Forest
Officer Matt Rogers.
The day following the accident, Officer Cunningham again repelled to
the ledge where the car was resting, hooking the vehicle to a crane
that had been brought to the scene to pull it from the gorge.
The Loudonville Police Department, Loudonville Fire and EMS, and
Rogers also received certificates of appreciation from Ohio State
Parks.
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