By Tim Cox, Editor From The Caroline Progress
Pictured from left: Madison District Supervisor Wayne Acors, Western Caroline District Supervisor Jeff Black, Corrections Officer, Mason O'Roark, and Bowling Green District Supervisor Jeff Sili
BOWLING GREEN - A corrections officer at the Peumansend Creek Regional Jail is being hailed today as a hero.
Mason O'Roark was recognized for coming to the aid of a state trooper who was wounded in a shooting on Interstate-95 in December.
O'Roark came to the assistance of Trooper Mike Hamer, who was wounded in the leg with his own gun during a struggle with someone he had detained and placed in his car.
O'Roark was driving by the scene when the wounded trooper got out of his car and tried to flag down some passing motorists. He stopped and gave emergency first aid to Hamer, who was bleeding severely.
O'Roark made a make-shift tourniquet and applied direct pressure to the gunshot wound in order to stop the bleeding.
At a regular quarterly meeting of the jail's governing board today, O'Roark was brought in for a surprise announcement and to be recognized. Jail officials presented him with a distinguished service award for his live-saving actions.
O'Roark also was briefly reunited with Hamer, who attended the event, and the men shared an embrace.
O'Roark, 29, who lives in Caroline, has been employed at the jail since 2006. He learned first aid from serving briefly in the Marines, he said later.
He knew Hamer was in danger, said O'Roark. "I knew it was life threatening," he said.
Hamer, 51, was bleeding severely because he had been wounded in the femoral artery. He felt light-headed and was experiencing difficulty breathing, and he lay down. He learned later he lost almost half his blood supply.
The trooper said he felt his condition improve as O'Roark applied first aid techniques to stop the bleeding. Mentally, he also drew encouragement, knowing he was in the hands of someone who knew first aid.
"He did a great job," said Hamer, who is still recovering and expects to return to duty in March. "He's one of the reasons I'm still here."
"Today, you make everyone in our profession proud," jail superintendent Sandra Thacker told O'Roark.
The shooting occurred in the southbound lanes of I-95 just north of Ladysmith on the afternoon of Dec. 8.
Hamer responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle and found Herbert J. Wheeler, 32, of Chesterfield, walking along the shoulder of the highway. He stopped and placed Wheeler in his patrol car. Wheeler attacked the officer and tried to get his pistol, according to State Police, and Hamer was shot and wounded during the struggle.
Hamer continued to fight after being wounded, and he shot Wheeler with a second pistol. Wheeler died later at Mary Washington Hospital.