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2 Minnesota DNR officers honored for help saving lives

Minnesota DNR hiring conservation officers
Minnesota DNR hiring conservation officers 03:40

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is recognizing two conservation officers who answered the call and helped save lives earlier this year.

According to the DNR, Sean Williams - a conservation officer stationed in Ely - saved the life of a man who was stranded in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in February.

MORE NEWS: Minnesota DNR announces this year's "Free Park Days" at state parks and recreation areas

Williams and a member of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad followed a man's snowshoe tracks three miles in the BWCAW and located the man, who was stuck past his knee in a deadfall tree and unable to free himself. The DNR said the man didn't have the proper equipment to spend the night in the wilderness and "likely would not have made it through the night."

The other conservation officer being recognized is Jeremy Henke, stationed in Albert Lea. In May, Henke responded to a call of an unconscious person near his location. While an Albert Lea police officer began CPR, Henke prepared an AED and delivered a shock. Emergency responders arrived and delivered two more shocks to the man before taking him to the hospital. 

The victim, who suffered a cardiac event, survived.

"Conservation officers have a long, proud tradition of helping people in need," Col. Rodmen Smith, director of the DNR Enforcement Division, said. "Officers Henke and Williams answered the call - as all conservation officers do - and this recognition is well-deserved."

NOTE: Video is from March. 

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