NORTH VERNON, Ind. – Law enforcement officers are never “off duty.” Jennings County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) detective Ian McPherson, proved that point recently while dramatically changing the lives of two Indiana families.
On December 23, the detective was at Santa’s Candy Castle in Santa Claus, Indiana. Fortunately for one family, McPherson was where he needed to be and knew exactly what to do when their young daughter started losing consciousness. He stepped in to assist and stabilize the young girl until the ambulance arrived. Later that evening, the girl’s father said that she had made a full recovery.
As fate would have it, the JCSO detective would need to rely on his 20 years of experience and training soon again. On January 6, he stopped at the Chick-fil-A Crosspointe in Evansville. When a young girl began to choke, Detective McPherson performed the Heimlich maneuver, enabling the child to dislodge the chicken nugget blocking her airway. Once she had recovered, he bought her an ice cream cone.
It is unlikely that either family will forget the events that occurred, or how differently the outcomes could have been, if not for Ian McPherson. Sheriff Kenny Freeman said, “Brave Law Enforcement Officers are all over this state and country, and at any given moment, they will do what needs to be done when needed for their fellow citizens.”
