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Sgt. Timothy Keith and Deputy Sheriff Daniel Hunsberger responded to the man's home on Nov. 25 after receiving a call from a third party to perform a welfare check, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
When the officers pulled into the man's driveway, they found him despondent and standing on a ladder near his garage with a metal cable looped around his neck and attached to the garage roof, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Though Keith and Hunsberger attempted to talk the man down, he jumped from the ladder and began to be strangled by the noose, according to police.
The officers scaled the ladder, lifted the man and continued to support his weight despite the man's persistent struggle to push them away, according to police.
The officers could not cut the cable, but managed to break the roof support, detaching the cable from the roof and sending all three of the men to the ground, according to police.
The officers then removed the noose and performed emergency aid until the Brewster Volunteer Ambulance Corps arrived, police said.
The 53-year-old was taken to Danbury Hospital for treatment. Keith and Hunsberger were taken to Putnam Hospital Center, where they were treated for minor injuries and later released.
During a Feb. 16 ceremony at Putnam County Sheriff's headquarters, Sheriff Donald Smith praised the officers' actions, calling them "selfless and valiant acts of valor performed in spite of peril to themselves."
"Because of the heroic actions of Sgt. Keith and Deputy Hunsberger, another human being has been given a second chance at life," Smith said. "For that, we are all very grateful and proud."
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