A Minneapolis firefighter was honored this week for his fast response saving a friend who was mauled by grizzly bears while hiking in Wyoming last year.
Capt. Justin Reid was one of several individuals recognized Tuesday with the department's Distinguished Service Medal. The award goes to firefighters and civilians who go to extraordinary lengths to help others.
For Reid, that meant staying by the side of his friend, Brad Johnson, after he was savagely attacked by two grizzly bears, KSTP-TV reports. The two had gone to Wyoming with two other friends last fall for a five-day fishing vacation.
When Reid heard Johnson's cries for help, he immediately ran to help. Once he reached Johnson, he relied on his firefighting training to keep his friend alive.
"He was covered in blood and his left arm was ripped apart, and he was already in shock," Reid said. "We were able to get back down to an outcropping where I tended to him, and we had prayed someone would cross our path."
They eventually were found by a mountain runner, who ran about two miles for help. Reid kept Johnson from bleeding out and dying of his injuries until a helicopter flew them off the mountainside seven hours later.
"We had prayed, and we counted it up. It took 14 things that had to happen to save him," Reid told KSTP. "It wasn't me who saved him, as men of faith, we know it was God who saved his life."
