At the Osceola Fire Department, law enforcement and emergency services annual Christmas banquet on Jan. 4, Clarke County Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Keeler was presented with a life savers commendation award, given to him by the man he helped save last fall.
Accident
On Oct. 12, 2024, Russ Jacobson was riding his motorcycle north of Osceola. It was a nice day, about 82 degrees, and he’d taken his coat and gloves off. When he entered a curve on Highway 69 just north of town, his cruise control didn’t shut off. He entered the suggested 40 mile per hour curve at over 60, hit part of the corner and was thrown from his bike. He landed in a barbed wire fence; he was not wearing his helmet.
Jacobson found himself tangled in the barbed wire, the worst of it being his right arm, which was wrapped in the wire and bleeding.
Keeler had just come on duty, and was called to the scene where he arrived ready to assist. Others had also stopped to provide aid to Jacobson - including a truck driver from Oklahoma and a local nurse - as they waited for emergency personnel to arrive.
On scene, Keeler identified life-threatening bleeding, and secured necessary equipment to make and apply a tourniquet to Jacobson’s arm. This stopped the bleeding, and ultimately saved Jacobson’s life. Jacobson was then transported via LifeFlight to Des Moines for further medical assistance and began the road to recovery.
“I can’t thank him enough,” said Jacobson at the banquet, the first time he officially met Keeler. “I can’t thank you guys enough for what you do. I really can’t, because without you guys, I wouldn’t be here. And I’m honored here today to be able to give [Deputy Keeler] a lifesaver’s award for what he did in the field that day.”
Jacobson pinned the award to Keeler’s shirt, and again thanked him and the other first responders for their selfless work.
“...making a trip out to a call, it could be someone’s life on the other end of it. I thank all of you for all you do,” said Jacobson.
In closing, Jacobson encouraged everyone to set up an emergency SOS on their cellphones, which in newer phones has a crash detection feature. In Jacobson’s case, this sent a message and a map pinpointing his location directly to 911, as well as alerting selected emergency contacts in his phone. He credited the app for the quick response he received the day of his accident.
Keeler has been with the sheriff’s department since June 2020.