A police officer who helped save a colleague’s life during last February’s “snowpocalypse” is being honored with a national award. When the storm hit D.C. on Feb. 6, 2010, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael Riley was working an extra shift. He responded to an “officer down” call for a medical emergency.
Riley found a fellow police officer fighting for his life, and his work in saving his colleague has earned him the officer of the month award from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for February.
Officer Bryan Nickelson had slipped on ice, hit his head on pavement and become unconscious, according to the fund.
He stopped breathing shortly after Riley arrived, and Riley tried to open his colleague’s airways. Nickelson’s pulse stopped, and Riley performed CPR.
Emergency crews arrived, and Nickelson was rushed to a hospital. Doctors performed emergency quadruple bypass surgery on Nickelson, the fund said. He survived, but remained sedated for several weeks after the procedure.
The organization said Riley received the officer of the month award because Nickelson likely wouldn’t have survived without his fast response and CPR efforts.
Riley has worked in law enforcement for 14 years. He has received other honors for his efforts to save Nickelson’s life, including the Capitol Hill Executive Service Club’s officer of the year award and a lifesaving award from the Capitol Police.
Riley is the second Capitol Police officer to receive the award. The first was Officer Eddie Thornton, who was honored in December for risking his life to protect his mother and other bystanders during a July 2009 shootout in the parking lot of a day care center.
