Officer honored for helping student who cut off finger

A Grafton police officer was honored with a Superior Service Award on Thursday, Feb. 27, for tending to a John Long Middle School student who severed one of his fingers on a sheet-metal press brake.

On Feb. 20, officer Chris Cheek responded at 3:24 p.m. to a call of an 11-year-old student who was severely bleeding after accidentally cutting off his finger in an industrial-arts class, Grafton Police Chief Emmett Grissom said. 

“Our officer was the first on the scene. The staff had been tending to him and applying first aid. The officer noted the bleeding was pretty significant and wasn’t slowing down,” Grissom said.

Grissom said Cheek, who has been with the department for four years, applied a department-issued tourniquet to the student’s upper arm to control bleeding before the Grafton Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services could arrive and transport the student to Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee.  

“He recognized the severity of the injury and the need to apply quick medical care to subside the bleeding until the rescue squad was able to arrive,” Grissom said.

“He was cool under pressure and used the tools available to him to help stabilize the child before receiving a higher level of care.”

Grissom noted that Grafton police officers have been carrying tourniquets for the last few years and the life-saving devices have been used in various types of incidents. 

“It’s a good device to have because there are a lot of situations to use them, not only for self-care but for the public as well,” he said.

Grissom said he isn’t certain if the student’s finger was reattached. Grafton School District officials did not return calls for comment.