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Trooper McGraw receives two ‘Life Saving Awards’ from state
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By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
Although he appreciates being recognized for his actions, Minnesota State Trooper Kelley McGraw of Caledonia doesn’t feel he is a hero.
“I wasn’t doing anything I wasn’t trained or expected to do. I was at the right place at the right time. I was just a tool God used,” McGraw explained last week. McGraw received two “Life Saving Awards” from the Minnesota Highway Patrol, for two separate incidents that happened last November. In both cases, McGraw performed the necessary actions to save the lives of two Houston County residents.
The first incident happened Nov. 7, 2008 near Dresbach. McGraw was traveling north on Highway 61 near the Dresbach rest area to conduct some crash reconstruction work. As he neared the turn-off, a motorist pulled up along side his squad car, rolled down his window and told the trooper there was a car just ahead that had been driving erratically across the I-90 bridge.
The car the man was speaking about was making its way back up the on ramp and onto west-bound I-90. McGraw said the car was moving very slowly, “about seven mph when I got up behind it.
“I put on my lights and pulled up along side the car,” McGraw recalled. “I could tell right away this wasn’t an inebriated person. This was a medical issue.”
McGraw was driving a brand new squad and wondered if he should “mess up” his new squad or not. About the time he decided he needed to take action, the car bumped the guardrail and slowed to a crawl. McGraw stopped his vehicle, jumped out, ran along side the moving vehicle, opened the door, slammed the shifter into park and turned the car off.
With the medical training McGraw had received, he could tell the woman from La Crescent was having a brain bleed. He radioed for help and within a few minutes EMTs arrived.
The state trooper’s initial prognosis was correct. The woman was having a brain hemorrhage. She was whisked away to the hospital, where she was originally listed in critical condition.
She has since improved considerably, and is expected to make a full recovery.
McGraw found out later the woman experienced a blinding headache near the airport exit on I-90 just a couple miles from the Mississippi River bridge. She recalled little else until she woke up in the hospital.
According to the EMTs, the woman was very near death when they arrived at the I-90 ramp. Had it not been for McGraw’s quick thinking and actions, the woman probably wouldn’t be alive today.
Twice in three weeks
The second incident McGraw was honored for happened just north of Caledonia on Highway 76 on Nov. 26.
McGraw heard on his radio that an intoxicated person had called 911, requesting help. Caledonia Police Officer Chad Heuser responded to the call. It was decided the woman was so inebriated that she needed to be transferred to the detox center in Rochester.
Officer Heuser was en route to Rochester, traveling down Badger Hill on Highway 76 between Caledonia and Houston when he noticed the woman wasn’t breathing. He stopped his squad, checked the woman, who had slumped down between the front and back seats on the floorboards and was not responsive.
Heuser radioed in the situation and headed back towards Caledonia. McGraw took off north on Highway 76 and intercepted Hauser several miles north of town. McGraw and Heuser were able to revive the woman, who has since recovered.
“Chad did the right thing by checking on her as he was taking her to detox,” McGraw said. “It wasn’t that long ago when a person died in the back of a squad car of alcohol poisoning as he was being transported from Winona County to Rochester.”
These aren’t the first two life and death situations that McGraw has been forced to deal with during his 15-year tenure with the State Patrol. But it is the first time he has been honored by the State Patrol with Life Saving Awards.
“I really can’t say enough how humbled I am to have been recognized. I looked at the program for the awards luncheon and there were 14 other Troopers recognized for life saving acts as well. I feel very honored to have been recognized twice at the luncheon, especially when you consider the incredible things Troopers do every day all across the state. To be one of the 14 they felt deserved of recognition, very humbling!
“Again, though, I am not a hero. I was simply the ‘tool’ or ‘instrument’ God used in both those situations,” McGraw concluded.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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