THE HERO'S TREATMENT
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 -- 9:12 AM
A Clark County Sheriff?s Deputy was given the hero?s treatment Tuesday, a day after she pulled an elderly man from a burning van, likely saving his life.When Dawn Jacobson arrived at the scene of the accident Monday, she found a van burning in a wooded area.
She sprinted through a field to get to the vehicle. She found an 81-year-old Willard man entangled in his seatbelt as the front seat became engulfed in flames.
"I was trying to pull him out. I didn't have any kind of tool to cut the seatbelt," Jacobson recalls, "I just remember pushing him back into the flames and then pulling him out under the shoulder seatbelt."
Jacobson believes the fire actually burned through the seatbelt allowing her to pull the man to safety.
Fearing the van was going to explode, Jacobson then helped to pull him behind some trees.
"Instinct just took over," she says.
She wasn't hurt, but her gloves and coat were singed.
The man was treated in Marshfield and a burn unit in Madison, but all indications are he's going to be fine.
Jacobson was back to work Tuesday. She said her co-workers were very proud of her?and then there was the media attention.
"There's been a lot of media. A couple TV stations and a couple newspapers. I (was) just doing what any other officer would do."
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