Sheriff’s deputies recognized for saving fellow officer.

From left: Dep. Mike Fillips, Officer Roy Strait, Lt. Louis Herremans

Sheriff’s deputies recognized for saving fellow officer.

#OceanaCountyNews

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

HART — In the early morning hours of October 13, 2016, Oceana County Sheriff’s Deputy Roy Strait suffered a cardiac event while responding to a call in the Village of Shelby. Two fellow deputies, Sgt. Louis Herremans (now a lieutenant) and Dep. Mike Fillips, immediately started performing CPR on Strait, who was 79-years-old at the time. The efforts of his fellow officers saved Strait’s life, Sheriff Craig Mast said.

Tuesday evening, personnel of the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office, along with family members of those involved with the incident, gathered to recognize Herremans and Fillips. Sheriff Mast presented the two with the Michigan Sheriff’s Association Lifesaving Awards and uniform pins.

“It was kind of a unique set of circumstances,” Mast said. “Roy Strait has been our first aid and CPR instructor for several years and has taught every officer here for several years. It’s kind of a coincidence that he becomes the person who was in need of those skills and that those skills saved his life and allows us to be here tonight with him.”