OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A group of citizens and sheriff’s deputies in Oakland County were honored by Sheriff Mike Bouchard for going above and beyond.
The annual awards ceremony was held on Tuesday (Aug. 10) at the Oakland County Circuit Court to pay tribute to people for doing acts of community service or for saving lives. This awards ceremony was for people who did good deeds in 2019 and 2020.
“The award is for putting yourself on the line and doing what has to be done in impossible circumstances,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard honored members of the community for their efforts to help others through tough times throughout the pandemic, as well as officers who were responsible for keeping people and children alive in dangerous situations.
“That makes me go home and wake up every day and come back to a job so that same thing, because now that baby gets to see their life flourish and see the rest of their live,” Oakland County Deputy Sam James said.
James and his team saved the life of a 10-month-old child who was choking.
“It was like we were one well-oiled machine and we were able to get those roads back down and get that baby to the hospital as fast as possible,” James said.
Oakland County Deputy John Roehrig said you’ll never know when you’ll get the call that’s going to require you to save a life and you never know what situation you’ll walk into. In February his team saved two women from a home with a gas leak.
“You just get your call and you go,’ he said. “I was with a good team that day and they were able to get it, get the subjects out, and everybody ended up being OK.”