Local state trooper receives a medal

“The right person with the right training at the right place at the right time.”  That’s how State Trooper Brian Lewis describes an incident that earned him a Lifesaving Medal.

The La Salle trooper was given the award Wednesday after he successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on a woman last year while off-duty at a restaurant in Normal.

Lewis is quick to credit the training he gets from his job and says the medal reinforces why he became a police officer.  He says the incident also shows that state troopers are never really off duty and he’s okay with that.