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Citizens honored for rescuing Davis County correctional officer

Posted at 7:28 PM, Apr 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-11 21:28:08-04

DAVIS COUNTY, Utah – Four women were honored Wednesday for their efforts in saving the life of a Davis County correctional officer.

In late January, while out on his daily run, Deputy Steve Lewis suffered a massive heart attack.

“If people had ignored seeing me on the sidewalk, yeah, I wouldn’t be here today,” Lewis said.

Four people – Anne Olsen, Monica Deis, Nancy Mikkelsen and Elise Griggs – noticed Lewis was in trouble and stepped in to help.

“He was discolored – blue. He needed help,” Nancy Mikkelsen said.

Mikkelsen and her daughter, Monica Deis, were the first to stop.

Moments later, Griggs and Olsen arrived to offer assistance.

“I have to say it was a calling,” Griggs said. “Something just told me that I needed to stop and help out.”

The women performed CPR and helped save Lewis’ life.

“That’s the miracle of all this, is that you have people who saw a stranger go down and were willing to do something to help out,” Lewis said.

The Davis County Sheriff’s Office presented the good Samaritans with the Citizen Award.

Olsen, who is also a nurse, never thought twice about stopping to help.

“You just jump in,” she said. “You just get into that mode where you know you need to help them because it’s a very emotional and scary situation.”

Deputy Lewis believes law enforcement and nurses share many of the same qualities.

“We're trying to help people that may not be at their best or may be going through a difficult position in their lives right now,” Lewis said.

Thanks to this act of goodwill, Lewis and these four women who he calls his guardian angels now share another bond.

“We're connected for the rest of our lives,” he said.