Lifesaving Award · 2022

Honorable events are sometimes recognized at more than one awards ceremony. The Fond du Lac County Law Enforcement Executives Life Saving Award of 2022 was one such honor, presented in recognition of the life-saving actions taken in March of 2021.

When a single act of courage saves a life, the recognition that follows often comes from more than one body. The actions taken that March morning had already earned a Lifesaving Award from the Fond du Lac Police Department, and the Fond du Lac County Law Enforcement Executives chose to honor the same rescue again, this time at the county level.

What follows is the account of the incident that both awards recognized.

On March 10, 2021, at around 10 AM, Officer Keywon C. Brown was dispatched to the YMCA for a report of a female subject in crisis and making suicidal statements.

Officer Brown arrived on scene and observed a female jogging away from the YMCA and thought this may be the person in crisis.

Officer Brown briefly lost sight of the female and then realized she was on the bridge on West First Street, standing over the Fond du Lac River.

Officer Brown attempted to talk with her; however, she told him to go away and leave her alone. Those were two things Officer Brown was not going to do, as he knew she needed help.

The female in crisis walked out to the edge of the bridge embankment, positioned over a river that was flowing faster than normal due to all of the recent rain.

For several minutes, Officer Brown continued to build a rapport with her and, at a minimum, to have her step away from the edge of the bridge. That dialogue also allowed Officers Tuttle, Sprangers, and Fuller to respond to the area.

Eventually, the female in crisis stopped responding to Officer Brown and went silent. He realized she was moving further along the edge and was about to jump.

Officers Brown, Tuttle, Sprangers, and Fuller all responded quickly, and Officer Brown was able to grab one arm of the female as she jumped, holding her from falling. Officers Tuttle, Sprangers, and Fuller assisted Officer Brown in pulling her up from the river bank and to a nearby grassy area.

Officer Brown showed disregard for his own safety in order to save the life of the female in crisis who jumped from the bridge. Officers Tuttle, Sprangers, and Fuller also risked their own safety by reaching over the embankment to assist him.

All four officers demonstrated tremendous courage and teamwork in their actions to save a life.

For Officer Brown, the award was meaningful, but it was never the most important part of the incident. The same was true when the county's law enforcement executives chose to recognize it again.

In moments of crisis, seconds matter. A few minutes of conversation created the opening for three more officers to arrive, and a willingness to reach over the edge kept a life from being lost.

Officer Brown remains grateful to have served alongside Officers Elijah Fuller, Melissa Sprangers, and Travis Tuttle, and humbled to have played a role in bringing someone home safely that day.